Breaking Open Japan, by George Feifer was recommended for weekend and October reading in a post on Friday. Figured it’s worth posting some modern data as food for thought from an Economist article published over the summer.

A few stats for you from the Aug. 18 edition of The Economist’s article entitled “Gaijin at the gates”:

  • Japan’s inward FDI doubled between 2000 – 2005, but amounts to only 2.4% of national output vs. 15% in the US and 30% – 40% for Germany, France and Britain.
  • The % of sales from affiliates of foreign firms in Japan is significantly lower (manuf. and services <5%) than comparisons to the above countries (manuf. >10%, services upper-single-digits and higher), as well as The Netherlands (double-digit readings above 30% and 20%), which has the highest amounts for all in an Economist chart sourcing the OECD.

So why is it important that Japan, which already has excess capital, seek more FDI? Nobuyuki Nagashima of JETRO, says, “It is important that we have more players in the Japanese economy, with new ideas and new business models.” One example cited by The Economist is Wal-Mart’s continued investment in Seiyu, despite the latter’s poor operating performance.

Also see, “U.K. Journalists Explain Globalization to Japan“.