          
          
          You have heard about the great market potential in Japan 
          for goods and services.  There are three basic reasons why 
          your firm's products and services should be in the Japanese 
          market.
          
          First, Japanese consumers, both individual and corporate, 
          are spending in record amounts.  This recent phenomenon is 
          in addition to the high levels of capital investment and 
          research and development (R&D) outlays of the private 
          business sector, and continues to fuel Japan's economic 
          growth.  Already, many European and Asian competitors are 
          pursuing this trend and have come to Japan in force.
          
          Second, there is a massive infrastructure buildup under way 
          in Japan as it strides into the 21st century.  Trillions of 
          dollars are to be spent on airports, bridges, roads, port 
          development projects, heliports, buildings, 
          telecommunications systems, resorts, retirement 
          communities, marinas, conference centers, and medical and 
          science cities.  Furthermore, the U.S.  Government has 
          negotiated an agreement with the Japanese Government to 
          ensure more opportunities for American firms in the 
          Japanese construction market.
          
          Third, entering the Japanese market should be regarded as 
          an indispensable part of the global strategy of your 
          business -- and without a global strategy, it will be very 
          difficult to remain competitive in your domestic market 
          over the long term.  Your firm should be in Japan (1) at a 
          minimum, to gather information on the Japanese competition 
          and new Japanese technology; (2) to exploit the growing 
          Japanese market; (3) to compete with your Japanese 
          competition in Japan, thereby enhancing your 
          competitiveness and your market share ultimately in the 
          United States; and (4) to establish relationships with 
          Japanese business and government entities to enable your 
          company to work in Japanese-financed development projects 
          in third countries.  Japan's Official Development 
          Assistance (ODA) program is now one of the world's largest 
          providers of U.S. Agency for International Development 
          (AID)-type grants and loans.  Finally, experience gained in 
          Japan responding to the severe demands of Japanese 
          customers can result in improvements to your products made 
          and sold throughout the world.  The observation that if a 
          company can sell in Japan, it can sell anywhere, is 
          basically true.
          
