Love Letter from Brussels
Two 40th Anniversaries (No.4)
17th November 2014
It has already been two months since I assumed my duties here in Belgium and this is my fourth Love Letter from Brussels. Thanks to all of you, I was able to present my credentials to His Majesty King Philippe and became, both in name and in substance, Ambassador of Japan to Belgium. From now on, I would very much like to keep expanding the range of my activities.
Today, I would like to tell you about the great success of Japanese businesses in Belgium. There are just shy of 250 Japanese businesses active in Belgium, with around 3000 Japanese businessmen and their families. Home to the headquarters of the EU, many companies have established their European headquarters in Belgium. Also, situated in the ‘navel’ of Europe, it is close to anywhere you want to go and having distribution centers such as Antwerp, there are companies that have invested in Belgium at a very early stage.
Among these, in 1962, Honda established Belgium Honda Motor as its first overseas manufacturing site, celebrating its 50th anniversary two years ago. In addition to this, there are also a number of companies such as Terumo and Daikin, that have celebrated their 40th anniversary already. As a matter of fact, less than a month after having taken up my new post in Belgium on September 12, I was honored to attend the 40th anniversary of two different companies, Kaneka Belgium and Nitto Europe.
Kaneka is an Osaka-based company that manufactures chemical products and functional plastics. In recent years, the company has also been active in the field of foodstuffs and life science. In Belgium, Kaneka started its operations in the city of Westerlo in the province of Antwerp in 1974. Today, Kaneka employs over 300 people and manufactures functional plastics (used in PVC sashes and for enhancing fiber material resistance etc.), expanded polypropylene and polyethylene foam particles (used for car bumpers etc.), as well as liquid polymers (used as sealants and adhesives in construction etc.).
Nitto Denko, yet another Osaka-based corporation, is a manufacturer of various industrial tapes as well as protective films for displays among others and is active in a great variety of fields. The company opened its first production site in Genk in the Belgian province of Limburg in 1974 and employs approximately 650 people today. The factory produces reinforcement and damping material for the automotive industry and tapes for various industries.
Incidentally, these two companies entered the Belgian market at the same time. However, other than the fact that both corporations are headquartered in Osaka, they are two entirely different enterprises. Yet, as I mentioned in my word of greeting on those occasions, having attended these commemorative festivities, I felt they have several things in common.
Firstly, I think it is the management team’s foresight and the challenging spirit to take risks. Westerlo was Kaneka’s first overseas production base. I was surprised to hear that the amount invested in this facility exceeded their stated capital at that time. I had heard that Nitto Denko is a company that makes ‘Spirit of Challenge’ their motto, but looking at pictures from that time, I believe it was a significant decision to establish in a part of Genk where there was nothing but raw land. From then onward, it was a bumpy road at times for the two companies and I would like to express my deep respect for the fact that they realized their original intention and overcame various difficulties.
A second point they have in common is the consistent support from the local governments in Belgium. Along with current local government officials, the former mayor, who had granted his support 40 years ago at the time of the company’s establishment, was also present at Kaneka’s anniversary ceremony. He was as happy as if he was celebrating his own 40th anniversary. At Nitto Europe’s anniversary event, the governor of Limburg, along with the mayor of Genk and representatives of the province’s economic organizations were all present and they expressed the hope for a further development of Nitto in their city. Frankly speaking, wages are high in Belgium; the tax system is complicated and changes frequently, making Belgium a pretty difficult place for business. However, there is a strength of the businesses that have taken root in the region and have been creating employment. Based on the relations they have built so far, they have been able to find a solution of some kind. My most important task here is to support Japanese businesses, meaning that I will gladly be of service if there is anything I can help with.
Lastly, what impressed me most is the state of mind of the people working there. It is as if they are one ‘family’. For example, Kaneka’s ceremony was a large-scale event, attended by not only the employees but also by their families. I myself had to part at a little later than 10 o’clock at night, however, it was then that the dancing began and I heard that the celebration only came to an end very late at night. At Nitto, only the executives were present at the commemorative ceremony itself. I had to leave at that moment, but after that, I heard that everyone, along with their families, had a huge celebration party in the local soccer stadium. This atmosphere and this sense of cooperating all together to support the company in good times and bad times, is imperative for companies that strive for long-lasting development. By the way, as I mentioned in both my words of greeting, I would most definitely like to participate in the ceremonies of the 50th anniversary of these companies 10 years from now. I wonder if that would be possible.