7/28/2010 Infrastructure abroad key focus | The Jap…

N E WS OP INION LIFE IN J AP AN E NT E R T AINME N T SP OR T S BLOG S SE AR CH SIT E MAP E -MAIL NE WS R SS FE E DS

COP10 Accommodation Guide Search

Ad ve rtising | J ob find e r | Cla ssifie d s | Shuka n ST | JT We ekly | Book Club | Stud y in J a p a n | R ea l E sta te | Sub scr ib e 新聞購読申込
Home > News

Share |

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Infrastructure abroad key focus

Government, Japan Inc. join to pursue bids
By HIROKO NAKATA
Staff writer
Building so-called social infrastructure has huge potential abroad, prompting
Japanese companies to form broad corporate alliances, often with government
support, to win contracts for overseas projects.
Heavy electric equipment makers Hitachi
Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries Ltd. aim to make
inroads in building social infrastructure
overseas because there is little
perceived need for new projects at
home, whereas emerging economies
appear to have huge potential, experts
said. The right track: Britain's first bullet train, a Class
395 built by Hitachi Ltd., comes out of a
Demand for railways, energy plants, maintenance building at the Ashford Maintenance
Center in Kent, England. HITACHI LTD.
information technology, water supply
systems and other infrastructure is
surging. The Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development
estimates the market will amount to $40 COP10 Accommodation Guide
trillion by 2030. English IT Support Japan A s e l e cti o n o f w orl d -cl a s s
Helpdesk, Network Support h o te l s i n th e N a g o ya a re a
"The scale of overseas projects is too
Services Consulting & Project
big, so one company alone can't take the Management
whole risk," said Hiroki Shibata, an www.syste m sgo.asia

analyst at Standard & Poor's Ratings

Japan K.K. Office for rent in Tokyo
R e a d y to s et u p a b u s i ne s s
Earlier this month, Hitachi, Toshiba, i n To kyo ? L e t u s h e l p yo u ge t
Mitsubishi Heavy and three utilities — s e ttl e d w i th th i s s e l e cti o n o f
o ffi ce re n ta l com p a n i e s i n
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Chubu To kyo .
Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. — said they will form a new
company this fall, aiming to win contracts for nuclear power plants in Vietnam
SUMMER DINING SPECIAL
and other developing nations.
Su m m e rti m e ... a n d th e
They will draw up proposals not only to build the plants, for which equipment d i n i n g i s e a s y ... i f yo u kn o w
w he re th e ci ty's o a s e s a re .
makers have expertise, but will offer plant operations and maintenance H ere 's o u r s u m m e rti m e
s e l e cti o n of cafe s a n d
knowhow, and training for engineers. re s tau ra n ts .
The consortium will seek financial and legal assistance from the government, the
companies said in a joint statement. Ready to expand your
horizons and study in Japan?
"Regarding countries that introduce nuclear power plants for the first time, we
…japantimes.co.jp/…/nn20100728f1.html 1/3
7/28/2010 Infrastructure abroad key focus | The Jap…
"Regarding countries that introduce nuclear power plants for the first time, we
Here's your resource for locating
are required to provide all kinds of support," Toshiba spokesman Hiroki the educational institutions and
Yamazaki said. curriculum best suited to you and your goals.

The new venture's prime purpose will be to win the next Vietnam nuclear plant Graduate School of Japanese Applied
bid, in 2011, he said. Linguistics Waseda University
Dedicated education research is
"It is quite rational for these makers to shift focus to infrastructure business from developed through the "integration
electronics because they already have a strong business background in heavy of theory and practice."
industry," Standard & Poor's Shibata said.
"Also, they don't have to get involved in heated price competition (in the
infrastructure business) like what they experience in the electronics and Real Estate Guide
semiconductor sectors," Shibata said. "They can also take advantage of their Find apartment and homes
technology for safety and environmental friendliness in the infrastructure that best suit your lifestyle,
business." income and time frame in Japan.

Hitachi and Toshiba have been hit hard in recent years by low-priced South The Japan Times
Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese home appliances and semiconductors. japantimes
Another big reason these companies and the government are uniting against New ambassador to China chides bureaucrats,
overseas competitors is the recent, and stunning, failure of Japanese firms to urges FTA http://ow.ly/2gXCV
22 hours ago
win international bids for nuclear plants in the United Arab Emirates and
Vietnam. Saitama copter crash probe gets under w ay
http://ow.ly/2gXDS
The United Arab Emirates, which plans to start operating its first nuclear plant in 22 hours ago

2017 and another three by 2020, in December selected a South Korean ISP blocking of access to child porn gets OK from
consortium that made a $20 billion bid. Experts say a visit by South Korean government team http://ow.ly/2gXEj
22 hours ago
President Lee Myung Bak and his negotiations played a big role in the
successful bid. Watanabe again scotches Your Party coalition talk
http://ow.ly/2gXDr
22 hours ago
Then came Vietnam's reported decision in February to select Russia's state-run
Rosatom Corp. to build two of four nuclear plants that were approved last Join the conversation
November by Hanoi as the nation's first atomic plants. Russia reportedly even
offered a submarine in a package deal.
P oll Most re a d storie s E d itors' p icks
Hitachi's efforts are bearing fruit in the railway sector.
A piece of your mind
The company grabbed the spotlight in December when it rolled out Britain's first English in Japan Inc.?
bullet trains, the Class 395. Now 174 of them run between London and Kent at a
Rakuten, Fast Retailing C o. and other Japanese
maximum speed of 225 kph. Hitachi won the order in 2005 amid competition companies are making English their official
with overseas giants. language. What's your take on this?

It's too extreme to demand this of all

Hitachi, which specializes in building trains, had support from East Japan employees.
Railway Co. to meet the demand for rail operations and maintenance in Britain. Companies should offer financial
incentives to employees who pay for
Hitachi also tied up with Mitsubishi Heavy in June to widen the train lineup, language lessons.
Hitachi spokesman Katsunori Shimokawara said. This is just a publicity stunt to
promote these companies' new
Hitachi's experience in London led to a much bigger order — up to 1,400 trains directions.
As the Dalai Lama advises, emphasis
for the Intercity Express Program that runs between London and Edinburgh, should be on communication, not
although the order is now under reconsideration by Britain's new government. perfect grammar.
Great idea. More companies should
Hitachi is waiting for Britain's final decision on the IEP, which was delayed by follow suit.
Encouraging staff to learn English is
Britain's general election in May. fine, but firing people over not being
proficient is unfair.
Meanwhile, Hitachi plans to ship about 600 Crossrail commuter trains to London
starting in 2015 and have HS2 rapid trains running between London and
Midland from 2020. Total Votes : 1053
View past polls
"We believe Britain and China will become the big markets for us,"
Shimokawara said. "Hitachi is aiming for ¥350 billion in sales in fiscal 2015, 60
percent of which will be earned overseas."
The company hopes to win orders in Brazil, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, he
said.
Unlike in Japan, where train manufacturers do only that, overseas they can
engage in a wider range of business, including rail system maintenance.
In emerging markets, train makers not only provide maintenance but also run
operations.
Because of the wide need for support to introduce energy plants and railways
overseas, governmental involvement is inevitable to win contracts, Shibata said.
…japantimes.co.jp/…/nn20100728f1.html 2/3
7/28/2010 Infrastructure abroad key focus | The Jap…
There are also several risk factors involved with international contracts, including
volatile raw material prices and additional financial burdens coming from
changes in specifications, he said.
Eiji Yamada, who specializes in social and industry design at Japan Research
Institute Ltd., said the government needs to export Japan's social infrastructure
to make it the de facto standard.
To this end, the government must support emerging nations' education and
human resources to facilitate the acceptance of the high standards of Japanese
technology. "We have to lay these countries' foundations so they can accept our
specs," he said.

Share |

English IT Support Japan

Helpdesk, Network Support Services
Consulting & Project Management
www.syste m sgo.asia

US law school in Japan

Temple School of Law, Tokyo Campus
ABA approved US law school in Japan
www.tuj.a c.jp/la w

Visit Japan with Visa

Make your trip to Japan rewarding with
Visa card. Check offers now
www.visa-ne ws.jp

We welcome your opinions. Click to send a message to the editor.

The Japan Times

(C) All rights reserved

About us | Work for us | Contact us | Privacy policy | Link policy | Registration FAQ
Advertise in japantimes.co.jp.
This site has been optimized for modern browsers. Please make sure that Javascript is enabled in your browser's preferences.
The Japan Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

…japantimes.co.jp/…/nn20100728f1.html 3/3