Sam Kidder
ACCJ Executive Director
Each year we go to Washington for our D.C. Doorknock to meet with members of Congress and the Administration. This year, with Japan hosting the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), we expect that more of Washington will come to Japan than in recent years. Throughout the year and throughout Japan there will be meetings of government and business leaders on a wide range of policy areas. From June to November there will be cabinet level meetings involving Ministers of Trade, Energy, Tourism, SMEs, Agriculture, Telecom and Information and Finance leading up to the Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Yokohama November 13-14. Our APEC Task Force is following this closely to see where the ACCJ has the best opportunities to engage policy makers with our advocacy messages. We have set up a process using our committee structure to get the input of those of you with policy concerns into the discussions. With 21 member economies stretching from Chile to Russia, APEC is not always the sharp policy tool we would like it to be. But it does allow for active American participation and is a critical antidote to the growth of Asia-only trade architectures. We can help strengthen the process by our active involvement. And we intend to do so as Japan hosts this year and the U.S. the next.
The phrase “Galapagos Syndrome” shows up often in current discussions of Japan. In our Internet Economy White Paper we worried that Japan’s ICT sector is in danger of falling into isolation. And ACCJ Vice President Bill Bishop expressed the same concern in a recent speech to Keizai Doyukai executives. As I am sure most of you know, the Galapagos Islands are 900 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador and have provided conditions where a number of species have evolved for eons in geographic isolation.
Many of these species are remarkable and even fantastic but their long-term prospects in our current globalizing world are fragile. The worry expressed by the Internet Economy Task Force and Bill Bishop is that Japan’s companies, products and services face the same fragility. Enabled by its geography, past public policy and even language, Japan has by default and design chosen to be selective and creative in absorbing outside influence.
However, I’m betting Japan will meet the challenges of a globalized world. One reason I am so confident is the positive reaction we are getting from thoughtful Japanese policy makers on many of our White Paper recommendations. But there is a second important reason. While the Internet is globalization on steroids, it is also a tool that fragments markets and enables localization and specialization. Japan’s artisan commitment to quality and its legions of sophisticated consumers mean that rarified species that have or will evolve in Japan’s Galapagos environment will have a way to survive in a much broader market. We already see this trend in agriculture and music to name a few. And of course among our members we have both the global giants and the niche experts.
