Japanese businesses choose Richardson to launch new, national SME program

As the new year began, Richardson was recognized with a global award by the Financial Times of London’s fDi Magazine as the Best of the Best for its soft-landing services in support of international companies. Richardson Mayor Paul Voelker said of this recognition, “We are proud to earn this distinguished honor for our strategic international business development program, and pledge to continue positioning Richardson as a top-tier destination for foreign investment.” Mike Skelton and Mayor Voelker were interviewed by Channel 5 about the international honor that Richardson received from fDi magazine (see details above). The clip aired on the network during three different newscasts. 

For the third year in a row, VP of International Business Mike Skelton and  REDP President Bill Sproull attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to meet with foreign delegation organizers and companies. Mike and Bill met with executives from companies based in France, The Netherlands, Israel and Europe, and all were interested in the establishment of a bi-lateral relationship to help companies expand to the US market and US companies looking to expand to Europe.

In February the REDP international staff hosted a 17-person delegation from the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce. As part of their two-day visit, Mike Skelton arranged for the Japanese executives to tour Fujitsu Networks Communications, UT Dallas and Toyota’s new campus in Plano. The group also met with executives from several large Japanese companies based in DFW to share their experience with doing business in DFW.

The Japanese continue to show interest in expanding their businesses to Texas, and Richardson has hosted at least one group of Japanese executives every month of 2018. Three Japanese companies have visited three times and invited several UT Dallas students to work as unpaid interns.

Several delegations from Eastern Europe have visited Richardson in 2018. In April, Mike Skelton welcomed a delegation of 20 government officials from nine Eastern European countries and in July he hosted a five-person group from Kyrgyzstan at the request of the U.S. State Department.

From left to right: Hiten Bhuta (CEO of CGS Infotech), Mike Skelton, and Bhavish Bhuta (General Manager of CGS Infotech)

In June, the Richardson chamber hosted business executives from India, Abu Dhabi, and Taiwan for a day-long information session about doing business in North Texas. After being welcomed by Dr. Richard Benson, the president of UT Dallas, the international visitors heard about the benefits of doing business in North Texas from speakers with the Texas governor’s office, DFW Airport, the Texas Bullet Train, Tech Titans, Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas, and the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce. They also heard why Fujitsu Network Systems and Epiroc executives decided to move their businesses to North Texas. The international visitors were here as part of a SelectUSA Spinoff Session, following the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C. SelectUSA is a U.S. government program led by the Department of Commerce to facilitate job-creating business investment in the country.

In July the REDP international staff met with Anthony Giuliani, special assistant to the Texas Secretary of State. Mr. Giuliani is interested in working with the Richardson Chamber’s International Concierge Committee for fDi prospects. And speaking of the concierge committee, it was awarded the chamber’s Committee of the Year for 2017.

In August the CEO of an Indian software company visited with Mike Skelton to discuss his plans to open an office in Richardson to serve his 1,000+ customers in the U.S. He plans to return to Richardson later this year for finalize his expansion plans.

Finally, one of the most exciting projects that the REDP international team has been working on is the national launch of a program called J-GoodTech, initiated by a division of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), to assist Japanese small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and manufacturing companies expand their international business. Last month, 25 Japanese manufacturing company executives were in Richardson to learn more about doing business in Texas, and to participate in matchmaking opportunities with local businesses.

With Toyota and Kubota relocating their North American headquarters to DFW and other Japanese companies following suit, many small-and-medium-sized Japanese manufacturing companies with unique, highly advanced products and services have also started investigating how they too can also do business here.

To support these companies, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has developed a program called SME Support J-GoodTech, to help Japanese companies identify potential customers, distribution partners, technology licensing opportunities, manufacturer’s reps and other business partnerships outside of Japan.

Bill Sproull and Mr. Shinichi Murai, the Executive Director of SME Support Japan, signing a MOU

METI chose the DFW metroplex as the first location in the U.S. to launch this new program, and on Sept. 24, Richardson hosted the first matchmaking meeting for executives from 39 Japanese companies at The Eisemann Center. Mayor Paul Voelker welcomed the group to Richardson, followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between SME Support and the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, formalizing the partnership.

During their two-day visit, the Japanese companies had the opportunity to meet with 30 local businesses to discuss potential partnerships and learned about how to do business in Texas. Conversations between the Japanese and Dallas-area companies have continued following their return to Tokyo.