The Activities of the Traders Group
Kobe, which is one of Japan's leading international ports, was home to many trading companies even prior to WWII, and over the years has been actively engaged in trade with many places throughout the world.
Many of these companies were small and medium-sized enterprises specializing in exports. Although they suffered a dramatic decline in number beginning in the 1970s, with the appreciation of the yen, many still exist today as local industries, having successfully made the transition to retail enterprises importing products from overseas. Approximately 500 companies are members of the KCCI traders group, 13 of which are councilors.
After WWII, in an age when exports by small and medium-sized trading companies were flourishing, the traders group was actively involved in matching foreign enterprises with Japanese manufacturers, presenting their demands regarding government, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and local government trade promotion measures, and providing information and advice.
Furthermore, during the 10 years from 1986 until the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the traders group dispatched business delegations each year, consisting mainly of importers and purchasers, to various countries throughout the world, including the countries of the Pacific Rim. After the earthquake, however, those activities had to be put on hold.
Nine years after the earthquake, however, from August 29 until September 3, 2004, the traders group, together with Hyogo Prefecture and the Kobe Foreign Trade Association, sent a delegation to the cities of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok in the Russian Far-East.
In 2009, the traders group, jointly with the Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East, the Hyogo Prefectural Government, the City of Kobe and the Kobe Foreign Trade Association, dispatched a business mission to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for the first time. It sent a business mission to Taiwan from March 8 to 12, 2010. These were the first business missions in 23 years.
We are happy to say that one-on-one business meetings between our mission members and local companies in these countries were very fruitful, thanks to the local chambers of commerce and industry.
We asked the local chambers of commerce and industry to match delegates with local enterprises, with the aim of carrying out discussions with regard to the possibility of increasing trade with these areas.
Many of these companies were small and medium-sized enterprises specializing in exports. Although they suffered a dramatic decline in number beginning in the 1970s, with the appreciation of the yen, many still exist today as local industries, having successfully made the transition to retail enterprises importing products from overseas. Approximately 500 companies are members of the KCCI traders group, 13 of which are councilors.
After WWII, in an age when exports by small and medium-sized trading companies were flourishing, the traders group was actively involved in matching foreign enterprises with Japanese manufacturers, presenting their demands regarding government, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and local government trade promotion measures, and providing information and advice.
Furthermore, during the 10 years from 1986 until the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the traders group dispatched business delegations each year, consisting mainly of importers and purchasers, to various countries throughout the world, including the countries of the Pacific Rim. After the earthquake, however, those activities had to be put on hold.
Nine years after the earthquake, however, from August 29 until September 3, 2004, the traders group, together with Hyogo Prefecture and the Kobe Foreign Trade Association, sent a delegation to the cities of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok in the Russian Far-East.
In 2009, the traders group, jointly with the Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East, the Hyogo Prefectural Government, the City of Kobe and the Kobe Foreign Trade Association, dispatched a business mission to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for the first time. It sent a business mission to Taiwan from March 8 to 12, 2010. These were the first business missions in 23 years.
We are happy to say that one-on-one business meetings between our mission members and local companies in these countries were very fruitful, thanks to the local chambers of commerce and industry.
We asked the local chambers of commerce and industry to match delegates with local enterprises, with the aim of carrying out discussions with regard to the possibility of increasing trade with these areas.
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