Unfazed by the economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese companies have made significant investments in North Carolina.
Global car giant Toyota began construction of a new automotive battery manufacturing plant – Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina (TBMNC) – in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite in Liberty, NC. Meanwhile, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies announced plans to build its largest manufacturing facility in North America in Holly Springs, a cutting-edge CDMO facility catering to the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
Despite COVID-19, Japanese companies are still investing in North Carolina
North Carolina is abundant in natural and human resources, making the state a fertile breeding ground for sustainable energy programs and excellent schools. The overall quality of life is among the reasons Japanese investors choose the southeast region, according to David S. Robinson, the Honorary Consul of Japan in North Carolina, Chairman of the North Carolina Consular Corps, and international trade attorney at Nexsen Pruet, PLLC.
Robinson also stressed that Japan and North Carolina enjoy fruitful and dynamic business partnerships because of the “Southern hospitality” that welcomes Japanese expats into our communities.
“We’ve come a long way,” — Robinson
Traditionally a producer of textiles, tobacco, and furniture, North Carolina is making a global name for itself as an important hub for the biotech, biomanufacturing, information technology, aerospace and pharmaceutical industries.
“Companies are coming here to invest and tap the intellectual resources in our state, and not to manufacture low-value goods. They’re coming here now because there’s a sophisticated workforce in a business-friendly environment that facilitates the development of pharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing, among other fields” he said.
Aside from the Research Triangle Park area, which has the highest concentration of Japanese investments in the state, according to Robinson, the Charlotte area and other more rural communities are also attracting a growing number of investors from Japan and the rest of the world.
“The ‘I-85 corridor’ from Virginia down to Atlanta, which goes through the Raleigh and Charlotte areas, remains highly attractive to foreign investors due to the easy access to markets, relatively inexpensive operating costs and a talented workforce. This corridor in North Carolina has attracted the likes of HondaJet, Morinaga, and Ajinomoto,” he said.
“I would like to see more foreign exchange students.”
Though there has been a decline in the number of exchange students, Robinson believes many problems are solved through closer partnerships, like the ones North Carolina State University has with Japanese research institutions like Waseda University and Sophia University. The state also has top-ranking Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, each with excellent language and foreign relations programs.
Aside from having one of the country’s highest concentrations of Ph.D. graduates in the nation, the Raleigh-Durham-Cary area also has one of the most vibrant community college systems in the U.S. Robinson notes that “worker training programs offered by the state’s community colleges can often be a critical incentive for businesses considering an investment in North Carolina.”
Amid the growing popularity of distance learning, which provides its own benefits, Robinson still wants to encourage more physical student exchange programs between Japan and North Carolina.
“There is still no substitute for being in a particular country. It changes perspectives and even lives,” he stressed.
On strengthening the ties between the Carolinas and Japan
With more than 17,000 North Carolinians working for Japanese companies, and Japanese consumers enjoying many products grown and manufactured in North Carolina, the benefits of the cross-cultural exchange in the workplace is invaluable.
“It’s been a wonderful collaboration over the years because we share common fundamentals, like social responsibility and respect for the rule of commercial law. We view business in very similar ways. The collaboration seems to work quite well because we have this mutual foundation,” Robinson said.
