【Profile】
71 y.o. Mr.Date had served to Electronics Manufacturer “SHARP”for 39years.During this tenure, for 15years, he had been the frontliner in overseas’ business battle fields( Saudi Arabia, India, Philippines). Afterwords, one medium sized company requested me to help set up their new factory in Philippines and worked for them for few years. Then, he was transferred to Uzbekistan by JICA to conduct the workshops(Management & Practical Business Case studies) at several universities in Uzbekistan. And lastly he was in the middle of journey in Georgia (JICA Mission) to strengthen the business relation and exchange between Georgia and Japan.
1. What brought you to Georgia?
As hitherto stipulated, after the completion of my mission in Uzbekistan, I noticed that JICA was publicly opening the job of promoting business between Georgia and Japan. Having experiences of overseas business for more than 40 years, I applied this without hesitation.
2. Could you share your insights on the Georgian market, including your professional background and experience?
My comments on Georgian Market;
A;Some foreign companies located in Tbilisi do not see Georgian Market alone…. Instead , they have the broader eyes to see away to Caucasus Market, or stretching over the farther broader landscape of Central Asian Market. For example, Poti is Geo-politically key port in this region stretching from Black Sea to whole part of Central Asia. Consequently (it is not well known but)Georgia is the hub of the vast market of Used Vehicle in this area. It is the big business. So always “seeing is believing”.
B;If you want to focus on this Georgian Market alone, The conclusion of research from successful foreign companies in Georgia is “You had better come, invest and set up your company earlier than any other foreign competitors. In my research many successful foreign companies came here in around 2015. These companies told me two things on why they had come here in this earlier period. Firstly, noｔ enough competition at that time and they judged “NOW OR NEVER” Second, EU Code was not yet applied at that time(not yet now either). Once Georgia acquires EU membership, she will have to abide ｂｙ EU rules （so called “EU CODE”）But in some cases, it requires over-specification and unreasonable cost up.
3. Could you tell us about the current state of economic and business relations between Japan and Georgia? Also, what do you think is needed to further strengthen these ties?
Honestly I cannot say that all the Japanese companies pay attention to Georgia nor they want to come here. One of the reasons for this is my inability to realize the mission. But thru various practical and realistic activities by Japan Georgia Chamber of Commerce and Industry ( located in Tokyo and presided by former Ambassador to Georgia, Mr Uehara.) gradually the business has become active based upon the human network between Georgia and Japan.
Now the world becomes small and is the time for SNS,ZOOM and e-mail. But to do the business, we have meet with face and face and see the market by our eyes. However there aren’t enough reasons nor cause to come to Georgia . I recommend you to come here and meet with the people here merely on your way back to Japan from your original business
destination like Europe, Turkey or Middle East. Then new chapter of your Narrative will start.
4. Many students in Georgia are interested in Japanese culture and are studying the Japanese language. What do you think these students need to do themselves in order to be able to use their Japanese skills professionally between Georgia and Japan?
Firstly I would like to express my sincerely appreciation to you for your interest in Japanese language and Japanese culture. And in many cases, the motivation of these was maybe Japanese Anime. However ,if you want to utilize your Japanese language ability for your job
or if you want to work at Japanese enterprises, more formal and courteous language and more polite attitude and gestures are required. In order to do this, I recommend you to watch Japanese business TV videos like HANZAWA NAOKI or Downtown Rocket for you to study such language and gestures. These business dramas are also very interesting and they are more or less same concept as Anime…TEAMWORK, NEVER GIVE UP, ACCOMPLISH THE MISSION…Thru these dramas, you can enjoy the different aspect of Japanese Language and culture. For example, one of my students in Uzbekistan became a great fan of HANZAWA NAOKI and finally he entered the top bank in Uzbekistan.
5. Do you have a message for Japanese companies considering entering the Georgian market?
It is up to the company who will do business in Georgia or not.And I cannot say any comment on such decision making of others. But once such company decides to go forward, I can say my advice from my experience. That is “ Please go forward, never look back, never regret, never have second thoughts” Because I guarantee you that soon you will encounter the first difficulty. It seems difficult and unsolvable…. But as the matters are all about human created issues….Therefore you will surely overcome or solve. That is how the company and the person grow. Famous proverb said “it is not important what you decided. It is more important to make your decision right afterward.” Because no one guarantee which decision is right (even after decision making)
6. What kinds of activities are planned to continue between Japan and Georgia in the future?
As I am already 71y.o., what I can do from now is very limited in time and physically. But I am very happy if I can do anything to contribute to the people whom I have met in Georgia or met thru Japan Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
