Good prospects for increasing trade with Japan

10/11/95

The prospects appear bright for a broadening of Western Australia's trade relationship with Japan, according to Commerce and Trade Minister Hendy Cowan.

Speaking in Tokyo, Mr Cowan said there was increasing scope for the State's small to medium enterprises there as well.

The Minister has had talks with some major Japanese companies which have expressed interest in working with WA companies in areas outside the traditional agriculture and resource-based industries.

"WA is well regarded here as a reliable supplier of commodities, but the Japanese are now showing interest in a range of other areas," he said.

"In particular, there is potential for co-operation in the fields of technology, telecommunications and construction."

While in Tokyo, Mr Cowan has met senior officials from Mitsui, Itochu and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT).

He has also held talks with the proponents of a desert agriculture research project to be located in the Kalgoorlie area.

Mr Cowan said officials from NTT, Japan's biggest telecommunications company, were keen to explore co-operative arrangements with WA in technology transfer and other technical areas.

NTT has previously been involved in displays at the Scitech Centre in West Perth and expressed interest in the State and Federal Government-funded Co-operative Multimedia Centre to be established in Perth.

Development of multimedia technology is a key element in NTT's future corporate strategy.

Mr Cowan said WA's information technology and telecommunications industry was making giant strides and a number of companies had successfully tackled the international market.

In his meeting with Itochu, one of Japan's largest trading houses, the company said it was keen to forge stronger links with small to medium enterprises in WA.

Itochu has had a presence in WA for many years and is a partner in the consortium which won the contract to build the new Collie power station.  It has taken on a number of countertrade obligations involving WA firms as a result of winning the job.  It also has a timber plantation in Albany.

Mitsui was enthusiastic about its continuing role in WA in the iron ore, LNG and tree-farming industries.

While in Tokyo, Mr Cowan also met officials from Koyo Kenki Lease Co, which has recently begun importing WA-built portable housing which it assembles and markets in Japan.

Mr Cowan said the Japanese had been impressed by the lightness, strength, quality and price of the WA product.  The market prospects for this type of housing were exciting.

The Minister has now left Tokyo for WA's Sister-State of Hyogo, in the South-West of Honshu Island.

Media contact:  Peter Jackson 222 9595