With more than 400 Japanese companies based in Texas, more than 55 Japanese funded investments in the last 10 years, and total capital investment from Japan exceeding $1.36 billion, it’s very clear that the relationship between the two has flourished. Both sides are anticipating even bigger things.
In 2022, the Texas Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism (EDT) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) signed a Statement of Mutual Cooperation (SMC) outlining the support and assistance to be given to small and medium-sized Japanese enterprises that want to expanding their business to Texas.
“Now that we have moved past lockdowns and other challenges caused by COVID-19, I see a remarkable resumption of Japanese investments in the U.S. As for the SMC, there is growing interest from both sides. The SMC remains valid and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is committed to strengthening its ties with Texas. Hopefully, the SMC will extend until 2024 to support more Tokyo-based companies in expanding their business to Texas,” Texas Japan Office Director Hiroyuki Watanabe told GMI POST.
According to Watanabe, who has headed the office since 2013, at least seven Tokyo-based companies have already confirmed their plans to open operations in Texas and will be supported by the SMC.
As of 2020, Japan became Texas’ 6th-largest export destination, buying more than $9.8 billion worth of organic chemicals, mineral fuel and oil, industrial machinery, and electric machinery, among other goods. In the same year meanwhile, Texas imported $20.3 billion in goods from Japan.
Among the Japanese multinationals present in Texas are Aisin, Fujifilm, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Toyota Motor Corporation, which previously had its U.S. base in California.
