BUSINESSNEWSHYOGO-KOBE

Comprehensive centers providing one-stop
services to Japanese and foreign companies
wishing to start businesses in Hyogo-Kobe

Hyogo-Kobe Investment Support Center Hyogo Economic Development Center
Kobe Commerce, Industry and Trade Center Bldg 4F
5-1-14, Hamabe-dori,Chuo-ku,Kobe, 651-0083
TEL:+81-78-271-8401 FAX:+81-78-271-8403 hkisc@staff.hyogo-iic.ne.jp

M a r c h
2 0 1 5 Vol.

Hyogo-Kobe Business Support Center in Tokyo

Todofuken Kaikan Building 13F
2-6-3 Hirakawa-chou, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0093
TEL: +81-3-3230-2721 FAX: +81-3-3230-2722

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HYOGO-KOBE INVESTMENT SUPPORT CENTER

Selecting Kobe Because of its Abundant Medical-related Infrastructure and Human Resources

Tornier Japan K.K.

Tornier, the originally France-based prosthesis provider for orthopedic surgeons to treat joint disorders of thehip, knee, shoulder, ankle and other parts, established
its Japanese affiliate, Tornier Japan K.K. in Kobe City inApril 2012. Mr. Serge CH Nguyen, General Manager ofTornier Japan, was one of the speakers at the HYOGOKOBE Foreign Investment Promotion Seminar held inTokyo in October 2014, and he spoke to us about theaims of Tornier’s Japan market entry and the reasonsfor selecting Kobe as the starting point.

Japan as the world’s No.
2 market after the U.S.
With a history of over 60 years, Tornier isa global manufacturer of medical devices
for orthopedic treatment of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders of the shoulder, elbow, hand, wrist, foot, ankle, andmore. It currently conducts business operations in more than 35 countries, andwent public on NASDAQ in the U.S. in2011.
From the 1970s, the company had distributed its products through agencies in
the Japanese market, and Tornier Japanwas established as its direct office withthe aim of boosting sales in Japan. “Japan is the world’s second largest orthopedic market after the U.S.,” Mr. Nguyensaid, continuing, “but there are difficult
obstacles we need to overcome before
obtaining approval for medical devices
from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour,and Welfare. Those obstacles have resulted in limiting the number of products
we have been able to market, and that is
why we decided to focus on the approval
application process and sales promotion
to create a full-scale market in Japan forour products.”

Enjoying Benefits Particular
to the Biomedical
Innovation Cluster
As for the reasons for the company’s establishment in Kobe, he said, “One of themajor reasons was that there were many
famous orthopedic surgeons in Kobe, in
Hyogo Prefecture, and in Kansai.” Additionally, the company felt that the accumulation of various infrastructures in theKobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster
would greatly serve to support TornierJapan’s business development. “For example,” Mr. Nguyen explained, “Kobe not
only has advanced transportation systems needed to rapidly deliver our medical devices to doctors, but also several
companies set up to clean medical devices. The available pool of experienced
workers in the medical industry in Kobe
was also a major factor in our selecting
the city.”

and maintenance as well as the rent subsidy granted by Hyogo Prefecture/Kobe
City. “The easy access from Kobe Airportand Shin-Kobe Shinkansen Station, bothof which are located near our office, toTokyo and other major cities and the notso-far distance to Kansai International
Airport, where our foreign staff enter Japan, are very helpful to us,” Mr. Nguyen
said.
The company received significant support from Hyogo Prefecture/Kobe City forlegal and other procedures in its establishment, and as Mr. Nguyen stated,“That allowed us to quickly complete thestart-up process and immediately start
our primary tasks including approval applications. For two years now since ourestablishment, we have been successfully growing our business.” It was apparent that he seemed to be finding the company’s business in Japan very fruitful.

Realizing Kobe’sExcellent Access to theRest of Japan and Beyond
Although Tokyo was also a candidate under consideration for the location of thefirst direct office in Japan, the company
concluded that Kobe was much more
beneficial financially because of thecheaper costs of company establishment

http://www.hyogo-kobe.jp/

Tornier Japan K.K.
Address: Kobe KIMEC Center Building
1-5-2 Minatojima-Minamimachi
Chuo-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Pref. 650-0047, Japan
Phone: +81 78-302-0340

BUSINESSNEWSHYOGO-KOBE

Comprehensive centers providing one-stop
services to Japanese and foreign companies
wishing to start businesses in Hyogo-Kobe

Hyogo-Kobe Investment Support Center Hyogo Economic Development Center
Kobe Commerce, Industry and Trade Center Bldg 4F
5-1-14, Hamabe-dori,Chuo-ku,Kobe, 651-0083
TEL:+81-78-271-8401 FAX:+81-78-271-8403 hkisc@staff.hyogo-iic.ne.jp

M a r c h
2 0 1 5 Vol.

Hyogo-Kobe Business Support Center in Tokyo

Todofuken Kaikan Building 13F
2-6-3 Hirakawa-chou, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0093
TEL: +81-3-3230-2721 FAX: +81-3-3230-2722

18

HYOGO-KOBE INVESTMENT SUPPORT CENTER

Enhancing Ocean Freight Service Based at Kobe Port,a Key Japan Hub for European Shipping

DHL Global Forwarding Japan K.K.
In April 2014, DHL Global Forwarding JapanK.K., a logistics provider with a global network,
selected Kobe for its new Kansai office. Mr.
Kenichi Nishimoto, Senior Manager in West Air
Freight, Transactional Operations, Operations
at the company, was one of the speakers at theHYOGO-KOBE Foreign Investment Promotion
Seminar held in Tokyo in October 2014, and hetalked with us about the aims of their new office in Kobe and the outlook of the company’sbusiness development.

Expanding a WorldwideNetworkAs a member of the world leading international freight service provider DeutschePost DHL group (headquartered in Germany), DHL Global Forwarding offers
various logistics services including air,ocean and land freight solutions, multimodal transportation that combines thesethree solutions, and customs brokerage.
Its Tokyo-headquartered Japanese affiliate, established in 1987, has 11 offices/
facilities in the country.
Mr. Nishimoto said, “We have sales specialists in various sectors, local stations,and trade lanes to provide our customers
with thorough transportation services
suitable to the characteristics of theirbusinesses, while we also have a vast
network covering Europe, the Americas,
Africa and other regions throughout theworld. That is our advantage.”

Providing Seamless
Services with the Customs
Brokerage License
After years of establishing offices andbranches nationwide, DHL Global Forwarding Japan decided to upgrade its

Kansai branch then located in Osaka to aKansai office in April 2014, and determined to reconsider the best location.
According to Mr. Nishimoto, the alternatives were Osaka and Kobe. “With theaim of further enhancing ocean freight
services, we resolved to rank the Port ofKobe, a Japanese hub of European shipping, that is, our specialty, as one of ourmain bases, and to locate the Kansai office in Kobe too,” he explained. In May
2014, the company also acquired the license from Kobe Customs to provide
customs clearance services at the Port ofKobe, which has enabled the company tooffer seamless services without outsourcing customs brokerage services
from partner enterprises like before.

Smoothly Recruiting
Language-Skilled Staff
As for the advantage from establishingan operation base in Kobe, Mr. Nishimoto
explained, “Hyogo Prefecture/Kobe City
offers a wide variety of support programs
for foreign and foreign-affiliated companies based in the area. Prefectural or city
officials frequently visit us to provide thorough support.” DHL Global Forwarding
Japan’s Kansai office, its main station inwestern Japan—controlling offices/

http://www.hyogo-kobe.jp/

branches in Nagoya, at Chubu Centrair
International Airport, in Kyoto, at KansaiInternational Airport, in Fukuoka, andOkinawa—has staff of 60 people working
in operations, customer service, commercial, and capacity management sections. “While we were recruiting experienced and well-informed bilingual foreign
trade clerks, fit for our business, as temporary workers, we had many more people introduced to us in Kobe than we had
had in Osaka,” he said.
Targeting the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster, a complex of medical-related industries, DHL Global Forwarding
Japan is intent on promoting its “Thermonet,” temperature-controlled transportation service for pharmaceuticals, tocreate a new market.

DHL Global Forwarding Japan K.K.
Address: 19F Kobe Commerce, Industry andTrade Center Bldg.
1-14 Hamabe-dori 5-chome, Chuo-ku, KobeCity, Hyogo Pref. 651-0083, JapanPhone: +81 78-330-6811