As COVID-19 disrupted supply chains around the world, businesses rushed to decentralize their operations and set up regional hubs, a strategy that was commonplace among Japanese companies even before the pandemic.
For many years, Dallas has seen a steady stream of Japanese investment from the likes of Orix USA, NTT America, Shimadzu Medical Systems, YKK USA and Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, to name a few.
Many other Japanese companies have invested in Dallas over the last several years, attracted by the region’s business-friendly environment, lower taxes, cheaper operational costs, abundance of skilled workers and its proximity to Mexico, Canada and the U.S. West and East coasts.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Dallas proved to have a resilient economy because of its diversified industries.
As the ninth-largest city and fourth-largest metro area in the United States, Dallas provides reliable and efficient transport links to Japan. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has two flights to Tokyo daily, while Nippon Cargo operates freight runs between Japan and the U.S. four times a week.
The Dallas metro area is also home to 15 top universities, 24 corporate innovation centers and 40 accelerators and incubators. That environment of innovation has been a crucial factor in attracting Japanese companies looking to establish a research and development outpost in the U.S.
Beyond the tax incentives and tax credits offered by Dallas, Japanese expatriates have encountered a welcoming and developed social infrastructure, the sort of which are normally found in New York and California. They have cited the wealth of education, cultural and culinary offerings as among the best things about Dallas for them, their spouses and their children.
