April 2022

FY2021JBIC Survey Reporton Overseas Business
Operations by Japanese
Manufacturing
Companies

Special Feature

Strengthening Logistics and Decarbonization Are
Key to Economic Recovery
The Post-COVID World as Seen
by Japanese Companies
JBIC’s Chief Representatives explain the actual situationand prospects of each country's economy

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Strengthening Logistics and Decarbonization Are Key to
Economic Recovery
The Post-COVID World as Seen by Japanese Companies
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) conducts an annual questionnaire survey of “Overseas Business Operations by Japanese Manufacturing
Companies.” In the latest survey, support for ASEAN in the promising countries/regions rankings fell due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While
responses to logistics bottlenecks and semiconductor shortages are matters of urgency, in the medium-term, Japanese manufacturers are also beingpressed to make efforts toward decarbonization. What will be the next moves that Japanese companies with active overseas operations should take?

ASEAN sluggish due to COVID-19
United States shows unusual rapid rise instead
The ratios of overseas production andoverseas sales of Japanese companies targetedin this survey are 33.8% and 36.3% respectively.
Although a slight recovery from 2020, when theimpact of the pandemic was most evident, thesefigures still fall short of pre-COVID 2018.
According to data by major industry type, theratio of overseas production in the automobile
industry slightly fell from 42.1% in 2019 to 41.4%
in 2020. The production ratio in the generalmachinery industry also slightly fell from 26.3%
to 25.2%. In interviews, there was a striking
number of comments about the significant
impact of semiconductor shortages, reduced
production caused by lockdowns associated with
the COVID-19 pandemic, and their ripple effects.
On the other hand, the overseas production ratio
in the chemicals industry plummeted from 30.9%
to 26.4% due to the pandemic, while theoverseas sales ratio in this industry dipped only
slightly as a result of inventory adjustments, etc.
Among the major industry types, theelectrical equipment & electronics industry was
the only one to show an increase in these two
ratios. While not back up to pre-COVID levels,
the overseas production ratio increased slightly
from 40.6% to 41.8%. Semiconductor-related
capital investments in the digital industry and the
expansion of production of peripheral devices for
personal computers, demand for which
expanded during the pandemic, may haveinfluenced this result.
In terms of their stance regarding
strengthening/expanding business, the surveyed
companies showed a positive stance towardboth domestic and overseas business. However,
the extent of the recovery in this stance, at 4.4
percentage points in one year, was relatively
small compared with the sharp recovery of 17
percentage points from 65.8% in 2009 to 82.8%
in the following year after the global financial
crisis (Figure 1). Interview responses indicatedthat turmoil in logistics networks andsemiconductor shortages are still ongoing, whichsuggests that these situations are continuing toimpose uncertainties on operations. Although
there are differences by industry type, therecovery of the entire Japanese manufacturingindustry looks likely to take longer than it did
after the global financial crisis.

Significant recovery in willingness
to invest in the United States
For the promising countries/regions ranking,companies surveyed were asked to provide thenames of up to 5 countries that they may
potentially expand their operations to in the
mid-term (next 3 years). The impact of
COVID-19 is clearly evident in the responses tothis question (Figure 2).
Although China and India retained the No. 1
and No. 2 positions respectively, there weresome changes from last year in the rankings
below them. Some ASEAN countries were downin the rankings, including Vietnam, Thailand, andMalaysia, which fell from their 2020 positions of3rd, 4th, and 8th. On the other hand, the Unites
States and Taiwan improved their rankings from

Figure 1. Trends in Stances Toward Strengthening/Expansionof Domestic/Overseas Business (FY2002-2021)
100%
90%

Difference between overseas"Strengthen/Expand" ratio anddomestic "Strengthen/Expand" ratio

Domestic "Strengthen/Expand" ratio
Overseas "Strengthen/Expand" ratio

Figure 2. Ranking of Promising Countries/Regions in the Mid-Term (Next 3 Years)
Rank
2020

2021

Country / Region(Total)

1

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
14
16
16
16
16
20

China
India
United States
VietnamThailandIndonesia
Philippines
MexicoMalaysia
TaiwanGermanySouth Korea
BrazilAustralia
Singapore
MyanmarBangladesh
RussiaTurkeyCanada

2
5

80%

3
70%
60%
50%

63.7
65.8

4
6
7
9

47.3

8
12
11

40%

15
16

30%

14
16
10

20%

13
19

10%
0%

2

20
28
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 （FY）

last year, with the United States jumping twoplaces from 5th to 3rd. This is its highest rank innearly 20 years. With support from companies in
the general machinery and chemicals industries,
Taiwan returned to the Top 10 after a 10-year
absence.
Last summer, when this survey was
conducted, plants were shutting down one after
another in ASEAN due to the pandemic. Thissituation appears to have caused major
uncertainty in the manufacturing industry,making it difficult for those countries to be voted
as promising. While the top two countries, China
and India, look solid at first glance, the share ofvotes for China declined by 0.2% from last year,
while India suffered a significant drop of 7.8%. A
gap is starting to appear between these twocountries.
Third-ranked United States is closing in on
India. Because the timing of this survey
coincided with the period in which the UnitedStates was showing an astonishing recovery
from the pandemic, it attracted support fromvarious industries, including the automotive andsemiconductor-related sectors. In the medium
term as well, despite a temporary slump under
the former Trump administration, manufacturers’
assessment of the United States has basically
been in recovery mode, with its ranking rising forthe past two years consecutively. This
re-evaluation of the United States appears to bea genuine trend.
Indonesia, in 6th place, and 7th-ranking
Philippines held on to their spots on the
rankings, although the share of votes received
by both countries fell. In particular, Indonesia’sshare of votes dropped significantly by 7.6
percentage points from the previous year. It
scored only slightly higher than 8th-ranked
Mexico, so this trend will need to be monitored
going forward.

Number of respondents
2020
（356）

2021
（345）

168

162
131
113
105
77
67
31
30
27
19
17
16
13
12
12
10
10
10
10
7

163
98
131
111
96
37
32
34
18
20
12
11
14
11
25
16
8
7
3

Note: Countries of equal ranking are listed in order of their rank in the previous survey.

Share of vote (%)
2020

2021

47.2

47.0
38.0
32.8
30.4
22.3
19.4
9.0
8.7
7.8
5.5
4.9
4.6
3.8
3.5
3.5
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.9
2.0

45.8
27.5
36.8
31.2
27.0
10.4
9.0
9.6
5.1
5.6
3.4
3.1
3.9
3.1
7.0
4.5
2.2
2.0
0.8

Semiconductor shortage and decarbonizationof global concern
Could promotion of decarbonization of supply
chains be an advantage for Japanese companies!?
The survey also asked Japanese companies
what kinds of news and events they pay attention
to when considering their future overseas
business strategies (Figure 3). The results showthat the topics of highest interest are“semiconductor shortage” in industry trends,“decarbonization” in issues related to supply
chains, and “U.S.-China tensions” in current
affairs. In industry trends, “shift to electricvehicles (EV shift)” and “digital transformation(DX)” also attracted a high level of interest.
The impact of the semiconductor shortage is
extending to many different sectors. In terms ofthe degree of that impact, 65% of the surveyed
companies answered that it “has had or is havingsome negative impact.” On the other hand, 23%of respondents said that it has “no particularimpact” or that it is “irrelevant,” while 9% said thatit “has had or is having some positive impact.”
Focus on logistics in response to a question
regarding external risks associated with supply
chains, the most popular answer was “disruption
and pressure on logistics” surpassing “diseases(including the COVID-19 pandemic.” After thesevere impact of the blocking of the Suez Canaland the turmoil in marine transport, maintaining
stable logistics is a top priority issue forcompanies that deploy global supply chains.
Meanwhile, 21% of respondents answeredthat moves toward decarbonization are “alreadyhaving an impact.” When combined with the 58%
of respondents who said “there has been no
particular impact so far but there will be,” thissuggests that there is likely to be some kind of
impact on around 80% of companies.
One noteworthy point is that a certain numberof companies and industries do not necessarily
consider the impact of the semiconductor
shortage and decarbonization from a negative
viewpoint alone, also seeing positives in thesesituations.

Measures toward semiconductor
demand are also key
The issue of semiconductor shortages wasviewed negatively by most companies in theautomobile industry, which have been forced
to make production adjustments because of the

Figure 4. Impact of Semiconductor Shortage (by Industry)

Figure 3. News and Key Words Focused on in Overseas Business Strategies
Negative

Positive
Infection Cases
Vaccination
Green recovery-240

COVID-19

-91
-67
-19
-95

Supply chains

-70
-8
-195

Industry trends

-76
-13
-16

Energy

-9

-52
-34
-200

-100

82

164

HydrogenSolar power generation
Battery

85

CPTPP
RCEP
Japan UK EPA

67

U.S.-China tensions
Myanmar
BRI

-4
-255

86

DX
Semiconductor shortage
EV shift-6

Current affairs

Has had or is having some negative impact
No particular impact / Irrelevant
Has had or is having some positive impact

22

Automobiles (107)

Localization of supply chains 86
Decarbonization
159
U.S. China decoupling
13-10

Regional
economic
partnerships-300

shortages (Figure 4). Automotive semiconductors
are basically a general-purpose component, andstability of their supply is a top priority. How torebuild supply chains disrupted by the COVID-19
pandemic will be a challenge going forward.
There was also a large number of negative
responses fromelectrical equipment &electronics, chemicals, general machinery, andprecision machinery industries. On the other
hand, 14.9% of surveyed companies in thechemicals industry and 22.6% in the precision
machinery industry viewed it favorably. In
particular, the semiconductor supply side gave
positive comments, such as “Due to the increase
in semiconductor-related capital investments, oursemiconductor manufacturing equipment-related
business performed well” and “Sales ofsemiconductor materials performed well.”This is evidence that the semiconductor
industry has a broad base and that it affects manyindustry types in various ways. In Japan, there
are many policies that support the supply sidewith the aim of reviving the semiconductor
industry, but it is by meeting demand that themarket will become healthier. Policies to ensure astable supply chain focusing on the demand sideshould also be considered for the revival of theindustry.
Regarding
the
other
key
word,
decarbonization, many positive comments werereceived from companies in the electricalequipment & electronics and general machineryindustries. The reason for this is the increase indemand for their own products. On the other

0

37

93

20.0

Electrical equipment & electronics (64)79.7

3.1 17.2

Petroleum & rubber (14)78.6

Nonferrous metals (20)

75.0

21.4

67.7

Metal products (21)66.7

Textiles (22)

45.5
64.7

31

Food (21)

28.6

71.4

17

Ceramics, cement & glass (11)

27.3

1

Paper, pulp & wood (11)

27.3

19

Steel (8)25.0

Numbers in ( ) are the numberof responding companies 0

the survey, GHG Protocol Scope 1 (directemissions from owned or controlled plants) was
by far the most frequent response, more thandouble the response for Scope 2 (indirectemissions from use of heat, electricity, etc.
provided by the third parties) (Figure 5).
The total responses for Scope 3 (primarily
supply chain emissions), which required
respondents to select from 15 categories ofemissions, were not that far off the Scope 1
responses. This is an indication of the high level ofattention being paid in that area. Some of themost common responses include “emissions
associated with purchased goods and services”
and “emissions associated with the use of soldproducts.” These two categories correspond toemissions associated with the transportation of
goods and the use and disposal of raw materials
and products, so this response could be describedas typical for the manufacturing industry.

14.9

32.4

52.7
29.4

200

36.4

5.9
36.4

63.6

9.1

62.5
20

9.5

23.8

Other (17)

100

22.6

9.7

81

0

8.9

23.2

54.5

Chemicals (74)

5.0

20.0

67.9

Precision machinery (31)86

Note: Definitions of Negative and Positive Positive: Business Opportunity / Negative: Risk・Cost Factor

hand, companies in the automobile andchemicals industries had a more negative view,
likely because of its impact in the form of
increases in manufacturing costs.
Regardingthepositive
impactsofdecarbonization, “promotion of research anddevelopment of new products” received the most
responses. On the other hand, “increased
manufacturing costs” and “review of suppliers andcustomersinaccordance
with
their
decarbonization efforts” were the highest ranking
negative responses. Some concerns wereexpressed about the rise in energy procurement
costs, such as that “increases in the procurement
ratio of electricity from natural energy sources will
push up costs.” There is a strong possibility that
decarbonization efforts will become a dividing
point in competitiveness between companies.
The question now is which emission source
should be focused on in global supply chains. In

80.0

General machinery (56)164

5.6 1.9

92.5

Transportation equipment (10)

40

12.5
60

80

100（％）

Figure 5. Emission Sources Focused on in
Decarbonization Efforts (by Scope)

Scope2

162
companies

Scope3330
companies

Scope1

370
companies

Scope1

Scope2

Scope3

3

JBIC’s Chief Representatives explain the actual situationand prospects of each country's economy

Use of advanced text mining to analyze keywordsof interest in Japan and the Unites States

With representative offices in 18 cities around the world, JBIC is at the forefront of international business. The head expats
in each country explain in an easy-to-understand manner the changes in the situation that they felt in their daily work andthe trend of Japanese companies entering the market. We will report the local situation in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 6. Degree of Attention to Individual Topics Paid by News Media Around
the World and Comparison with this Survey
Reports on corporate activities
Overseas media
0.1%

4.1%

1.9%

Brexit

6.1%

0.0%

1.3%

U.S.-China tensions

0.0%

0.4%

9.8%

RCEP

0.6%

0.9%

3.1%

Battery

12.7%

1.4%

3.4%

Solar power generation

27%

7.0%

3.9%

Ammonia

1.1%

1.7%

1.1%

Hydrogen

14.3%

8.9%

3.5%

Decarbonization

8.5%

17.7%

8.6%

EV shift

8.6%

15.6%

1.8%

Semiconductor shortage

3.1%

5.2%

8.3%

DX

5.2%

15.9%

6.2%

Smart city

1.1%

0.5%

9.1%

Localization of supply chains

0.0%

2.3%

3.8%

Human rights

1.1%

1.8%

2.0%

Vaccination

8.1%

12.7%

6.3%

Infection cases

1.8%

0.4%

9.4%

8.6% of overseas media articles. Words suchas “solar power generation,” “hydrogen,” and“battery” ranked high in overseas media. In
other words, while interest in “decarbonization”
and “shift to electric vehicles (EV shift)” per seis high in Japan, in other countries, there ismore talk about solutions that are directly linked
to decarbonization and greenhouse gas
emissions reduction.
The analysis results for the data of 40,000
companies disclosed on EDGAR (US) and
EDINET (Japan) also proved interesting (Figure

EDGAR

Frequency of characteristic words

1400

ethanol

United States

1200

nuclear1000

cellulosic
biomass

800

fertilizerorganic

600

wind

400

solar

200
0

1200

biofuelshydrogen2018 2019 2020 (FY)EDINET

0

20

40

60

80

100

140

Bio
Battery
Solar

Japan

800

Wind
Nuclear

600

EV

400

Ammonia
Storage battery

200

Geothermal
2018 2019 2020 (FY)

0

50

100

150

JBIC Survey Report on Overseas Business Operations by Japanese Manufacturing Companies can be found from the following website.

https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/research.html

4120

Hydrogen

1000

0

India

Figure 7. Japan-U.S. Comparison: Trend in Frequency of Characteristic Words Related
to Decarbonization/Climate Change in Company Annual Reports, etc.

200

China

Myanmar

While Japanese companies focus on theissue of U.S.-China tensions when considering
their overseas business strategies, there is little
interest in this word overseas. This was theinteresting conclusion drawn from this year’s
survey.
JBIC used text mining, a technology thatderives useful information from large volumes oftext strings. There are expectations for theapplication of this technology in the future as amethod for data analysis. JBIC analyzed 41
million articles of Dow Jones Factiva, a global
news monitoring and search engine that covers
around 200 countries and regions, and 800,000
articles from Japanese business daily, Nihon
Keizai Shimbun. It has released the results ofthis analysis as a supplement to the survey.
Regarding the “U.S.-China tensions”
mentioned at the beginning of this article, in the
JBIC questionnaire survey, 9.8% of
respondents expressed an interest. The phrase
was found in 0.4% of Japanese media articles,
but in virtually zero of overseas media articles(Figure 6). “Brexit” appears to be of little interestin Japan, while a high 6.1% of overseas media
articles mentioned it.
In this way, one advantage of text mining isthat it makes it possible to see the differences
between Japan and overseas from different
angles from existing research methods.
There was also a remarkable difference inthe results for keywords related to renewableenergy. “decarbonization” was mentioned in
17.7% of Japanese media, but only aroundhalf—8.5%— of overseas media articles. “shift
to electric vehicles (EV shift)” was also coveredby 15.6% of Japanese media articles but only

7). While listed companies in the United States
have consistently increased their efforts related
to decarbonization and climate change, Japan
appears to be in the midst of a “boom,” with theefforts of listed companies in Japan having
risen sharply in recent years.
There was also a clear difference between
Japan and the United States regarding words
that frequently appear in their disclosed
materials. Companies in the United States showhigh interest in alternative fuels, such as“cellulosic,” “ethanol,” and “biofuel.” In the areaof renewable energies, words such as“biomass” and “wind,” as well as
agricultural-related words such as “fertilizer”
and “organic” were frequently used.
In Japanese companies, “hydrogen” appears
most frequently, followed by “bio” in ESG
contexts such as fuels and plastics. In
renewable energy, in addition to “solar power”
and “wind power,” “geothermal power” appears,
which is a typically Japanese trend. Anotherunique feature of the Japan data was the entryof “EV” and “storage battery” in the top ten
keywords. In 11th place and below, there arealso references to the construction field, suchas “smart construction” and “cement.”
These results suggest that, even regarding
the same area of climate change, company
strategies differ from country to country. Thereis much to be learned from these differences,which could also be seen as the strengths ofone’ s own country. For more details of thisanalysis, please refer to the full report on the
JBIC questionnaire survey.

JBIC survey

Japanese language media

250

New Business Opportunity in Environmental Area
China retained top place in the promisingcountries and regions rankings. It was the firsteconomy to recover with its Zero COVID policy,
achieving USD144.4 billion in total foreign direct
investment (FDI) in 2020 (up 4.5% year-on-year).
FDI in China (preliminary figures) in 2021 also rose
to USD173.5 billion. Along with the Chinese
economy’s growing international presence, thistrend was likely precipitated by the concentration ofdemand in China as “the manufacturing base of theworld” as other countries have struggled to containtransmission of the virus.
According to the substantive by-country rankingsof FDI in China for 2020, Singapore, which accounts
for many government-led projects, was the top
investor, followed by South Korea, centered on
semiconductors, in 2nd place ahead of 3rd-placed
Japan with a slight margin. Looking at the amount of
FDI in China from the world, the service industry
accounted for 61% and the manufacturing industry
21%, while in investments from Japan, those figures
are reversed, with the service industry accountingfor 15% and the manufacturing industry 65%.
The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) approved by
the National People's Congress (NPC) in March
2021 declared that China would establish a well-off
society and shift its economic development stage
from a priority on quantity to a priority on quality.
The sectors in which China will lead the world instrengthening its investments include clean energy
and environment areas. This is likely to bring about

Inflation rate2%
Percentage ofcompanies withinvestment plans

Japan's foreign
direct investment

1,180 billion yen

44%

Chief Representative KITAGAWA, Representative Office inBeijing (front row, 2nd from the right). Exchange of views
with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

new business opportunities. It is worthy of special
note that this is the first time that China has
indicated a policy of attracting foreign investment, inthe form of a development plan for the introductionof foreign capital. The 14th Five-Year Plan declares
the promotion of the opening of relevant businesses
in the fields of telecommunications, internet,
education, culture, medical care, and finance, easingof restrictions on foreign capital, encouragementof foreign investment, and strengthening ofcompetitive advantage with RCEP member
countrie s. The C hine se gove rnm e nt alsoemphasizes the importance of foreign capital as a“bridge between the domestic-international dual
circulation.”

Share of votes inpromisingcountries/regions
ranking

Vaccination rate

83%

47%

On the other hand, Japanese expatriates who are,for China, working for foreign-capital companies areconcerned that China has become a seemingly close
yet distant country, as they are subject to a
mandatory three weeks in quarantine upon entering
China under the Zero COVID policy. When will
people ever be able to come and go between the twocountries easily?
(KITAGAWA Yoshihiko, Chief Representative,
Representative Office in Beijing)
Representative Office in Beijing
Telephone No.: +86-10-6505-8989
Countries and Regions in Charge: China, Hong Kong, Macau, andMongolia

How Effective are Measures to Attract Foreign Companies?
India has held on firmly to its leading position asa target for long-term promising businessdevelopment, but remained in 2nd place as apromising target in the mid-term. The impact of
COVID-19 in India has been severe, with over
470,000 lives lost, and its real GDP growth rate in
FY2020 fell by 7.3%, the first negative growth in 40
years.
However, India’s real GDP growth rate isrecovering steadily and is expected to increase by
9.2% year-on-year in fiscal 2021. With corporate tax
cuts in 2019 and aggressive investment incentives
such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI)
Schemes and the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor
Project (DMIC), foreign direct investment (FDI)
has been increasing consistently, even during the
COVID-19 pandemic. In fiscal 2020, FDI in India
increased by 13% to USD80 billion, making India thethird largest recipient of FDI in the world after
China (USD163 billion) and the United States(USD134 billion).
The United States is the largest investor in India,
investing USD4.2 billion in FY2019 and USD13.8
billion in FY2020, primarily in the tech sector. This
amount is greater than its total investment in thewhole of Southeast Asia.
Investment by Japanese companies slowed down
temporarily due to COVID-19, but is expectedto accelerate again going forward. The sectors
attracting attention are, naturally, decarbonizationrelated fields, and it is expected that Japanesecompanies with abundant experience andtechnology will have opportunities to enter themarket in fields such as renewable energy(including hydrogen), particularly solar power
generation, biomass, and energy saving technology.
Although competition has been intense in the
manufacturing sector, including automotive, steel,construction and agricultural machinery, andplant engineering, Japanese companies aredemonstrating a strong presence by announcing

Inflation rate

7%
Percentage ofcompanies withinvestment plans

33%

Share of votes inpromisingcountries/regions
ranking

38%

Japan's foreign
direct investment

330 billion yen

Vaccination rate

40%

large-scale investments one after another.
In recent years, business opportunities have been
expanding in various fields, including theastounding momentum of startups. The focus on
economic inclusion-related businesses, which aim toraise the standard of living in rural areas that arehome to as many as 1 billion people.
(KURIHARA Toshihiko, Chief Representative,
Representative Office in New Delhi)(Left) Chief Representative KURIHARA, Representative
Office in New Delhi with Arti Kanwar, Resident
Commissioner from the Government of Gujarat, Prime
Minister Modi’s home state, which has close ties withJapanese companies

Representative Office in New Delhi
Telephone No.: +91-11-4352-2900
Countries and Regions in Charge: India, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives,
and Sri Lanka

5Inflation rate

In 2021, Vietnam, like other countries, suffered
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with thegovernment’s change in policy to one of “living with
COVID,” it achieved economic growth in the mid 2%
range for two consecutive years. Although new FDI
fell due to entry restrictions for overseas visitors andother factors, investment expansion of existing FDI
companies has remained steady. Japan ranked 2ndin the number of projects among investor countries
and 3rd in total investment amount.
Membership of the Japanese Chamber ofCommerce and Industry in Vietnam increased to1,973, exceeding the membership numbers of thecorresponding organizations in Thailand andIndonesia. According to JBIC survey to Japanesemanufacturers, Vietnam retained top ranking as
promising countries and regions among the ASEAN
countries. The country rated well in the categories
of “qualified human resources,” “stability ofsocial/political situation,” and “good for risk
diversification to other countries.” Vietnamese
population is young with the average age being 31,
and are known for their fine motor skills anddiligence, and there are many people who can speak
Japanese. Under the leadership of the Communist
Party, policy coherence is maintained, public safety
is secured, and Japan-Vietnam relations are
excellent. Expectations of further growth of thedomestic consumer market with a populationof about 98 million people, the increasing
geo-economic importance of the country due to the
U.S.-China conflict, and other factors have further
raised Vietnam's profile.

3%
Percentage ofcompanies withinvestment plans

In addition to export processing, consumer goods
and services, and other domestic-demand sectors,
Japanese investments in Vietnam have diversified toinclude the relocation of production from China etc.,and “Vietnam + 1,” referring to entry into multiple
regional provinces within Vietnam. JBIC financing
for Japanese-invested SME projects in Vietnam has
increased to more than 20 projects since thepandemic began. Vietnam is also attracting
attention as a key destination for supply chain
restructuring, with more than 40% of projects under
the Japanese government's “Overseas Supply Chain
Diversification Support Project” for ASEAN directed
toward Vietnam.
Despite challenges in investment environment
such as uncertainty in its legal frameworks, theVietnamese government is actively engaged in

Share of votes inpromisingcountries/regions
ranking

Percentage of population who have completed the prescribed number of vaccine doses (As of December 23, 2021) (Source: Our World in Data)

Share of votes
in promising countries/regions ranking

Percentage of companies that indicated the country/region in question as a “promising business development target in the mid-term” in the
FY2021 survey.

Percentage of companies
with investment plans

Percentage of companies that answered “Have plans for new or additional investments” in the country/region indicated as a promising businessdevelopment target in the mid-term in the FY2021 survey.

Vaccination rate

57%

30%

dialogue with foreign companies, which is anencouraging point. As a chair of the energy working
team of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative launchedin 2003, I am committed to continuous andconstructive policy dialogue. At the request of
the Vietnamese side, the JBIC Representative Officein Hanoi has recently worked on FDI policy
recommendations for the government and party,
with a view to improving the investment
environment.
(AGUIN Toru, Chief Representative, Representative
Office in Hanoi)

Representative Office in Hanoi
Telephone No.: +84-24-3824-8934, 8935, 8936
Countries and Regions in Charge: Vietnam-0.9%
Percentage ofcompanies withinvestment plans

39%

Share of votes inpromisingcountries/regions
ranking22%

Japan's foreign
direct investment

490 billion yen

Vaccination rate

63%

“We are very happy to provide Japanese companies withsupport for business development. Please feel free to contactus.” KUCHIKI Takahiro, Chief Representative, Representative
Office in Bangkok

effect, so continuity is key. All eyes will be on
Thailand to see if it can maintain its advantage as aninvestment destination in the future.
(KUCHIKI
Takahiro,
Chief
Representative,
Representative Office in Bangkok)

Representative Office in Bangkok
Telephone No.: +66-2-252-5050
Countries and Regions in Charge: Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia,
and LaosPhilippines

ThailandInflation rate

There are other positive factors. In January 2022,
the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) first entered into force in 10 countries, oneof which was Thailand. In Thailand, where exports
account for 50% of GDP, 40,000 categories will
benefit from the RCEP. In particular, tariffs on
30,000 product categories are expected to be
removed immediately. There are hopes that the
RCEP will advantage Thailand, with its function as alocal production base.
Measures to promote FDI take time to show an

Average amount of Japan's foreign direct investment in the past five years (2016-2020) (Source: Bank of Japan)

Vaccination rate

230 billion yen

Promotion of Direct Investment as RCEP Comes into ForceJapanese FDI into Thailand has been ongoingsince the 1980s, mainly in the automotive and othermanufacturing industries. With a local sourcing
ratio of 60-70%, the number of automobiles producedin Thailand was around 2 million before the
COVID-19 pandemic, the highest in ASEAN and11th highest in the world. Although replacement
investments, such as on facility modifications, havebeen more prevalent than new investment in recent
years, there were 125 cases of Japanese FDI in
Thailand from January to September, 2021, totaling
THB67.8 billion (BOI of Thailand: application basis).
Ranking at the top in both scale and number ofprojects, Japan continues to show a stronger
presence than other countries.
On the other hand, Thailand dropped from 4th
to 5th place in the 2021 survey’s promisingcountries/regions rankings. There has been talk forsome time that, with Thailand’s sharply rising
wages, its advantage in terms of securing a low-wagelabor force has started to fade. The percentage ofcompanies that cited this point rose from about 20%
in the FY2007 survey to about 38% in FY2021. Somecompanies have also expressed the need for thedevelopment of highly skilled human resources andthe appropriate operation of the tax system. Awareof the importance of investment promotion policy,
Thailand’s government is working on the steady
implementation of the growth strategy, “Thailand
4.0,” the further advancement of skilled humanresources, and the highly transparent operation of
the tax system.

Inflation rate in 2020 (Source: World Bank)Japan's foreign direct investment

Japan's foreign
direct investment

32%(Left) AGUIN Toru, Chief Representative, Representative
Office in Hanoi, and (Front right) Do Nhat Hoang, Director
General of Vietnam's Foreign Investment Agency, Ministry ofPlanning and Investment. Discussion on a study of policies forthe attraction of high-quality FDI

Inflation rate

Indonesia

Vietnam6

Increasingly Attractive Destination for Supply Chain Restructuring

Radar chart items for each country
The radar chart provides a relative evaluation based on
the maximum values of the following items.
Inflation rate: 7%Japan's foreign direct investment: JPY1,180 billion
Vaccination rate: 83%
Share of votes in promising countries/regions
ranking: 47%
Percentage of companies with investment plans: 44%

Growth Continuing with Strong Consumer Spending
Inflation rate

Indonesia accounts for around 40% of ASEAN’s
population, land area, and nominal GDP. Its
economy is mainly driven by domestic demand, andwith strong consumer spending and a demographic
dividend that will last until around 2035, future
market growth in this country is largely expected.
Indonesia has placed 6th in the promisingcountries/regions ranking for the past two years
running.
Real GDP growth rate last year was up 3.69% fromthe same period previous year. The economy ofIndonesia is on track to recovery. Although GDP
was –0.74% in the first quarter, it reverted to positive
figures in the second quarter for the first time in 15
months to 7.07%. This was followed by 3.51% positive
growth in the third quarter, despite growth being
slowed down due to the spread of the Delta variant,and 5.02% growth in the fourth quarter. In the centerof Jakarta, there are traffic jams in the morning andevening and shopping malls and restaurants arecoming back to life. Whether the economy will
recover even further in the future will depend on the
response to COVID-19 and the recovery of domestic
demand, particularly consumer spending, which
accounts for 50% of GDP.
Since 2016, foreign direct investment from Japan
to Indonesia has been waning, with Indonesia
placing 4th in the most recent rankings behind
Singapore, China, and Hong Kong. In the first half ofthe 2010s, an investment boom by automobile- andmotorcycle-related companies ran its course, andinvestment in large-scale power plants also slowed
down, but investment in other diverse fields, such as

2%
Percentage ofcompanies withinvestment plans

Japan's foreign
direct investment

490 billion yen

31%“Jakarta, the world-leading mega city. Leaving the mega city
named after ‘Jaya-Karta (City of Victory)’ behind, what future
can be expected in the new capital city, ‘Nusantara(Archipelago)’?” TSUTSUMI Masaki, Chief Representative,
Representative Office in Jakarta

urban development and chemicals, has been
progressing. On the other hand, China is increasing
its presence with large-scale investments such as
high-speed rail projects and nickel refineries, andSouth Korea is also aiming to change the game in
the market with EV-related investments.
Regarding employment, with the enforcement of
the Omnibus Law on Job Creation in February lastyear, deregulation of the investment and labor
sectors is expected. However, in November,Indonesia’s constitutional court ruled that the law as
unconstitutional in terms of the legislative process
and ordered that amendments be made to the law
within 2 years. In addition, the decisions of thenational and state governments on minimum wage

Share of votes inpromisingcountries/regions
ranking

Vaccination rate

39%

19%

increase rates announced under the law have been
inconsistent. The uncertainty in the implementationof legislation of this country will need to bemonitored.
Indonesia assumed the presidency of the G20 in2020 and will take up the chair of ASEAN in 2023. A
presidential election also is scheduled in 2024. As
such, the next two years will be critical ones for thiscountry.
(TSUTSUMI Masaki, Chief Representative,
Representative Office in Jakarta)
Representative Office in Jakarta
Telephone No.: +62-21-5220693
Countries and Regions in Charge: Indonesia

Large Investments by Japanese Companies Continue
Inflation rate

Philippines retained its position in 7th place in thepromising countries/regions ranking from last year.
It also kept its ranking in its key industry of electricalequipment & electronics, but the number ofcompanies that cited the Philippines as promisingfell from 11 to 6. This may be because of the removalof tax incentives for export companies with theenforcement of the Corporate Recovery and Tax
Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act.
On the other hand, under the CREATE Act,
corporate income tax rates as a whole are reduced,
which serves to attract foreign companies. Japanesecompanies have particularly demonstrated theirpresence. JERA Co., Inc. (JERA) has invested
approximately USD1.58 billion in a major power
utility in the Philippines. This large-scale investment
was made in consideration of the global trend of
decarbonization of electric power, more than half ofwhich comes from coal-fired power generation.
Taiheiyo Cement Corporation considered theinfrastructure development plan led by Philippine
president, Rodrigo Duterte, as an opportunity to
expand demand for building materials and invested
approximately JPY30 billion. JBIC provided loans forboth projects.
The Philippines has strength in business process
operations (BPO) such as call centers. The economyof the Philippines is driven by domestic demand,with remittances from Philippine nationals working
abroad amounting to around 10% of GDP and those
funds being spent within the country. GDP growthof the Philippines in 2020 showed the largest drop3%
Percentage ofcompanies withinvestment plans

36%

Share of votes inpromisingcountries/regions
ranking

9%Japan's foreign
direct investment

170 billion yen

Vaccination rate40%

“We support companies to enter the local market, using thesurvey materials also. Please feel free to visit our office.”
KISHIOKA Masashi, Chief Representative, Representative
Office in Manila

among major ASEAN countries due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, but with the recovery of
consumption in 2021 thanks to vaccines and theeasing of restrictions on activities, full-year
economic growth of 5.6% was achieved. The AsianDevelopment Bank is forecasting economic growthof 6.0% for the Philippines in 2022, a high level
similar to pre-pandemic levels.
The current Duterte government has beenworking on the improvement of public security andthe establishment of infrastructure and is still very
popular with the Philippine nationals in his last year

in office. A new president will be elected in May thisyear according to regulations. How will the newpresident guide this young and vibrant country onto
a new path of economic growth? We will need tokeep a close eye on the Philippines in 2022.
(KISHIOKA Masashi, Chief Representative,
Representative Office in Manila)

Representative Office in Manila
Telephone No.: +63-2-8856-7711, 7712, 7713, 7714
Countries and Regions in Charge: Philippines

7

Our Global Challenges

Entering the “home” of major pharmaceuticalcompanies with the aim of becoming the top player
in the scientific glassware industry
Asahi Glassplant Inc.
Scientific glassware manufacturer, Asahi Glassplant Inc. (AGI) does business with chemical andpharmaceutical manufacturers around the world, assisting the research and production ofadvanced chemical products and chemicals.
Using the acquisition of glassware manufacturers in Switzerland, the United States, and theUnited Kingdom, where many of the world’s major pharmaceutical manufacturers are based, as anopportunity, this company hopes to further expand sales in the global market.

Delivering products to chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world
Contributing to production efficiency improvement with proprietary technologies“By pursuing M&As and joint ventures, we aim to become theworld’s leading manufacturer in the processing scientific glassware
industry by the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024.” AGI CEO,IKEDA Yasuyuki, talked passionately about the company’s goals.
The company manufactures ingeniously designed glassware used
for reaction, synthesis, concentration, evaporation, and otherapplications in the R&D and production operations of chemical andpharmaceutical manufacturers. AGI’s strength lies in the excellenceof its glass processing engineering, an example of which is the
manufacture of the AGI Rotary Evaporator, whose 200-liter capacity
makes it the world’s largest rotary evaporator. With five locations inJapan, including company headquarters in Kumamoto Prefecture,and five production sites overseas, AGI engages in business with the
top ten chemical manufacturers in Japan and the world’s top 20

IKEDA Yasuyuki
CEO8

pharmaceutical companies. The company supports the research andproduction of many advanced chemical products and chemicals
worldwide, delivering to a total of 102 countries to date.
The company was founded in 1950. IKEDA Yutaka, Yasuyuki’s
grandfather, founded the company after resigning from his job as a
glass processing worker at a major chemical manufacturer andstarted producing small scientific glassware, such as flasks andbeakers. In line with the growth of the petrochemical industry during
Japan’s economic boom, the company expanded its glassware
business to accommodate larger-capacity equipment. While
manufacturing tailor-made products to customer companies’
specifications, the company also started to market standardized
packaging products at attractive prices in the 2010s, which enabled
the company to grow significantly. Currently, about 35 members of thedesign and development team who engage in chemical engineering,mechanical design, electrical design, etc., and about 95 members of
the glass manufacturing team work together to design andmanufacture scientific glassware that meets the advanced needs ofcustomer companies.
Glass reaction systems, which account for the largest volume of
shipments in Japan, are the company’s major product line. Thesesystems, which consist of a reaction vessel, a condenser, a dropping
funnel, and other components, are used to cause chemical reactions,etc. With capacities ranging from 300 ml to 100 liters, these systems
can accommodate reactions of various substances. Mr. Ikeda said
that their reaction vessels, which are the core of the system and havesignificant impact on the performance, have a unique shape that“cannot be copied by other companies.” They have a unique “baffle”
structure which divides the jacket covering the vessel into small
ring-shaped chambers (Ring Baffles). Vacuum jacketed triple-walled
vessels are also available. This structure enables the processtemperature in the vessel to be controlled quickly and precisely, which
contributes to high yields and to chemical synthesis and production
efficiency.
“Since our foundation, we have continued to invest steadily in our
main business, even if we were struggling with poor businessperformance. Such investments include the introduction of machineryand equipment, as well as recruiting and nurturing human resources.
We also have in-house designed machinery and equipment, such as
lathes for machining. It is precisely because of these steady efforts toestablish and pass on our technologies that we are able to continue
creating and manufacturing complicated products such as Ring
Baffles,” Ikeda explained.

Acquiring overseas glass
manufacturers Integrating the “core”
of Japanese manufacturingwith locally produced parts

Exterior of Asahi Glassplant UK Ltd. (UK)

Inside Asahi Glassplant UK Ltd. (UK)Asahi Glassplant first expanded overseas in2004. With Ikeda’s aspiring “to test our
technologies in the world,” the company
established an overseas business department
and started selling its glassware to Asianmarkets, such as India, China, and South Korea.
Inside AGI North America, Inc. (US)Exterior of GlasKeller Basel AG (Switzerland)
However, as Ikeda explained, “we were unable tocompete on price, losing to our competitors timeand again.” Then, in 2008, the company established a joint venture
independently, in cases where there is a mismatch of supply andcompany, ATR ASAHI Glass Process Systems Pvt. Ltd., in India anddemand, the production capability of the individual sites will be usedbuilt a “hybrid system,” in which only the “core parts,” such as reaction
effectively as if they are single factory. The aim of this concept is tovessels, were manufactured in Japan, and the remaining components
curb losses of sales opportunities due to failure to meet deadlines.
were produced locally. This system worked well, and their business
In March 2020, Asahi Glassplant received a syndicated loan fromwas finally on track.
JBIC and Higo Bank for the acquisition of H.S. Martin. In 2021, theIn 2014, AGI acquired GlasKeller Basel AG, a long-establishedcompany concluded loan agreements with its overseas affiliated
Swiss glass processing company. “The glass industry is a small
companies in the United States, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
world, and executives of the major companies all know each other. I
respectively through a syndicated loan from JBIC and private financial
was having dinner with the owner of GlasKeller, when I happened to
institutions for the manufacture and sales of scientific glassware andhear the owner say, ‘I think it’s about time for me to retire, but I haveequipment. “Thanks to the introduction by Higo Bank, we started
no successor to pass my business on to,’ so I asked him to join ourdealing with JBIC, which has abundant experience and expertise ingroup.” Albeit a coincidence, this acquisition has significant meaningoverseas projects. In 2021, JBIC provided a direct loan to ourfor AGI’s overseas business. At that time, the company had anoverseas affiliated companies, which was very useful for improving
overseas expansion strategy to establish production and sales
management awareness at the individual companies. Going forward,
locations in countries and regions where the headquarters of thewe hope JBIC will continue to support us in the expansion of ourworld’s leading pharmaceutical companies are located. This
overseas business. We expect that there will be more opportunities if
acquisition enabled AGI to establish offices in Basel, Switzerland,
there are more plans for developed countries,” commented Director,
where two pharmaceutical giants, Novartis and Roche, have their
IKEDA Toyoharu.
corporate headquarters.
By integrating its world-class glass processing technologies and theThis strategy of establishing business locations in the hometowns
strengths of its group companies, Asahi Glassplant will continue itsof leading pharmaceutical manufacturers is based on Mr. Ikeda’s
efforts to build business systems that deliver attractive products toexperience of overseas sales. “I made sales visits to labs andcustomers around the world with attractive specifications, prices, andproduction sites in the Asian market that are run by major
lead times. The CEO spoke enthusiastically about the company’s plans
pharmaceutical manufacturers, but in many cases, the scientificfor the future. “We aim to become a ‘transnational company,’ in whichglassware they use is the same as that used by their headquarters
both corporate headquarters and our overseas affiliated companies
plants, as instructed by the headquarters, regardless of theare equipped with high expertise and will grow together, making use of
performance and quality of products. I found this very frustrating. I
their individual strength to compete in the global market.”realized then that creating a track record of sales to the headquarters
of individual pharmaceutical manufacturers would be key toconvincing these labs and plants to adopt many more of our products.
Establishing offices close to the headquarters of customer companies
Asahi Glassplant Inc.
has enabled us to conduct production and sales in accordance withlocal standards, as well as providing meticulous responses to various
Head Office 1978 Takahama, Arao, Kumamotoneeds, such as repair and amendment, after delivery of the products.
URL https://www.theglassplant.com/
In doing so, I believe we can gain the confidence of pharmaceutical
Founded April 1950 (Asahi Seisakusho Inc.)
Capital JPY100 million
manufacturers who want to use products longer with peace of mind.”Sales Volume JPY7,590 million (Year Ended September 2021)
Under this strategy, in 2019, Asahi Glassplant acquired two glass
CEO IKEDA Yasuyuki
manufacturers, H. S. Martin of the United States and Cambridge
Employees Asahi Glassplant Inc.: 270
Glassblowing of the United Kingdom, in quick succession, and it is(AG! Group Japan: Approx. 700 / Overseas: Approx. 200)now striving to expand sales with its hybrid system.
Business Sales and manufacture of scientific glassware, sales and
AGI is currently working to establish a “Virtual One Factory” bymanufacturing of quartz products, equipment leasing, design,
fabrication, and maintenance of glassware plant2025. Under this concept, while global production sites will operate

9Project Frontline
Our People and Their WorkJBIC is engaged in an array of different projects in various parts of the world.
JBIC’s leaders talked about their work on the front lines, their commitment toprojects, and what they find most appealing as professionals in theirrespective fields.

Investment Project for Overseas Integrated Electric
Utility Company
Committed to Policy Dialogue with Host Country Government

Director, Division 1,
Equity Investment Department

SATO Taishi
I was engaged in the negotiations forthe share purchase agreement and theshareholders’ agreement for a joint investment
with the Chugoku Electric Power Company, Inc.
(Chugoku) in Energy Fiji Limited (EFL),
a vertically integrated electric utility thatgenerates, transmits, and distributes electricity
throughout Fiji.
EFL is a Fijian government - owned
enterprise that was considering the introductionof private-sector vitality with the aims ofimproving the stability and efficiency of its
power supply and responding to renewableenergy. Fiji, an island country located in the
middle of the South Pacific, relies onhydropower for about half of its electricity
generation. Chugoku, which has as many as 90
hydroelectric power plants in Japan, has a trackrecord of participation in hydroelectric power
projects in Indonesia and Taiwan and engages
in renewable energy projects in Japan. Thesestrong background makes Chugoku an
attractive partner from the Fijian perspective,
which led to the investment negotiations.
Going forward, EFL has committed topromote renewable energy projects such ashydropower and solar power projects to achieve
the targets and objectives set under the National
Development Plan. Chugoku’s aims are to
pursue investment opportunities for overseas
renewable energy projects and participate in
new power-related business. The investment in
EFL will be Chugoku’s first involvement in theoperation of an overseas vertically integrated
electric utility that generates, transmits, anddistributes electricity. It plans to further expand
its business overseas by leveraging its
know-how and technology cultivated through its
domestic electricity business. This investment
project also has great significance for JBIC,
because it will help support the overseas
expansion of the Japanese electric utility
company and contribute to promoting the
introduction of renewable energy.
In this project, the key roles expected of
JBIC include policy dialogue with the Fijian
government. Power supply is an important
infrastructure that supports the economic andsocial activities of a country. Therefore, in any
country, the electric power business is subject
to various influences and regulations undernational policies. In other words, the electric
power business carries a risk of changes

in those national policies causing majorchanges in the business environment. As aninvestor, Chugoku wanted to mitigate suchrisk. As a policy-based financial institution,
JBIC is expected to participate in this projectand make dialogues with the Fijian government
intensively from the above - mentioned
perspective, including securing no unilateralpolicy changes.
It is only natural that a national government
should have control over its own policies, so it isunderstandable that they would be reluctant toaccept requests about policies from foreign
institutions such as JBIC. However, if the designof electricity tariff systems were to change
significantly in the future, the stability of theelectric power business could not be
guaranteed. The discussions were difficult, but
eventually, they understood our message thatpolicy stability is a prerequisite for the
introduction of funds and technologies fromoverseas, and an agreement that satisfied allparties concerned was reached. Participating in
negotiations of this nature was an invaluable
experience for me. There is something truly
special about work that could only be
experienced in a policy-based financial
institution.
Fiji is one of the leaders of the Pacific Island
countries. It has strong potential for growth. It is
attracting a great deal of attention from theUnited States and Australia as well, giving it avery important position for Japan both
economically and geopolitically. Taking theopportunity of this agreement, we will work to
support the steady introduction of renewableenergy in Fiji and the Pacific Island nations bycollaborating with relevant organizations fromJapan, the United States, and Australia, as wellas international institutions.

I was engaged in a co-financing project tosupport the synthetic structural protein material
manufacturing business of a US subsidiary of
Spiber Inc. (Spiber), one of Japan’s leading
biotechnology startups. This is the first time that
JBIC has extended a loan to a startup.
Spiber was established in September, 2007
after the successful artificial synthesis of spidersilk fiber at the laboratory level in the Institute forAdvanced Biosciences, Keio University in
Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture. Spiber’s
synthetic structural protein materials, Brewed
Protein™, are produced through a microbial
fermentation process that uses plant-derived
sugars as the primary raw material. Research anddevelopment for the commercialization of the
product are currently in progress. Potential uses
include spun yarns resembling cashmere or
wool, animal-free fur and leather, and resinmaterials similar to tortoiseshell and buffalo
horn. Brewed Protein™ does not rely on
petroleum and other fossil fuels as raw materials,
and neither does it generate microplastics thatstay around in the environment, thus imposing
little impact on marine pollution. There are also

no concerns in terms of animal ethics. With thesecharacteristics, it is expected to become a key
next-generation material that meets the needsof various industries, including the apparelindustry, such as the move away from adependence on petroleum. Spiber aims toestablish a mass-production plant for its synthetic
structural protein materials. The plant in the
United States this JBIC financing is for isscheduled to be constructed to start operating in
2023 at the earliest. It will be Spiber’s second
mass production plant, following on from its
Rayong plant in Thailand (launched in March
2021).
As I listened to Spiber’s description of its
business and its vision for the realization of asustainable society, I recognized its potential tocontribute to the maintenance and improvementof global competitiveness of Japanese companies
and the solution of social issues. As such, I feltthat it was in line with JBIC’s mission and the key
focus areas in the Fourth Medium-term Business
Plan announced in June 2021. This made me wantto support the company and I started deliberatingon the loan.
On the other hand, not only was there noprecedent for JBIC extending finance to astartup, but Spiber had also only just reached thephase of launching commercial production after
many years of research and development, sothey did not have any actual products for sale.
For this reason, we had to gather together arange of materials to assess the company’s
creditworthiness, while investigating various
matters such as the future potential of thebusiness, the abundance of intellectual property“I hope that this project will inspire startups aiming to make the leap to the global stage to learn about JBIC’s various initiatives,” said
FUKUDOME Keisuke, then Deputy Director, Division 2 (left). “It was a difficult project with no precedents, but Director NAKAO kept us
pointed toward the goals of our work, from creating internal consensus to preparing detailed resources, which gave us the reassurance tokeep moving forward with the project,” added KIKUCHI Aoi, team member of Division 2 (right).

Director, Division 2,
Corporate Finance Department

NAKAO Kojiro
in its possession, and the evaluation andreputation of its business partners. Althoughsome quite challenging issues emerged, ourfour-member team, including myself, united as
one and overcame these issues one by one whileobtaining ideas from other relevant people in
JBIC. I am delighted that we were able to sharesuch strong enthusiasm and collaborate withothers to materialize this loan.
Through this project, I communicated withmany related parties, including Spiber’s
management team, the people who have been
involved in development since the company’s
foundation, its business partners, and the people
who are working on the front lines toward future
mass production. Having been encountering at
first hand the strong passion of these parties forfinding solutions to global-scale social issues, wewere able to accumulate valuable knowledge andinsights that can be put toward structuring loans
for startups. Leveraging the experience I havegained in this project, I will continue working
hard to support ambitious projects that open up
the future.

Equity Participation in Energy Fiji Limited
Supporting Overseas Business Expansion ofJapanese Company

Loan for Synthetic Structural Protein Material
Manufacturing Business of US Subsidiary of Spiber Inc.
Supporting Overseas Business Expansion of Japanese Startup

In March 2021, JBIC signed a shareholders’ agreement for a joint investment with the Chugoku
Electric Power Co., Ltd. (Chugoku) in Energy Fiji Limited (EFL). EFL is a vertically integrated electricutility that generates, transmits, and distributes electricity throughout Fiji. Chugoku, through its
investment in EFL, plans to further expand its business overseas by leveraging its know-how andtechnology cultivated through its domestic and overseas electricity business. JBIC’s investment in
EFL will support overseas business developments by Chugoku and contribute to the maintenanceand improvement of the international competitiveness of Japanese industry.

In October 2021, JBIC signed a loan agreement amounting to JPY5.0 billion(JBIC portion) to support the synthetic structural protein material
manufacturing business of Spiber America LLC, a US subsidiary of Spiber Inc.
The loan is co-financed with MUFG Bank, Ltd., bringing the total co-financing
amount to JPY10 billion. The loan financially supports Spiber’s overseas
business development, thereby contributing toward maintaining and improving
the international competitiveness of Japanese industry and the resolution ofsocial issues.

An online signing ceremony was conducted by Josaia
Voreqe Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji, Hasmukh
Patel, CEO of EFL, SHIMIZU Mareshige, President & CEOof the Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., and MAEDA
Tadashi, Governor of JBIC.

https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2020/0326-014423.html

10First Loan for a Startup
Impressed by Enthusiasm of Related
Parties in Addressing Social Issues

Pilot plant in Headquarters in Tsuruoka City,
Yamagata Prefecture

Synthetic structural protein materials,“Brewed Protein™” is produced withthe use of plant-derived raw materials.

https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2021/1029-015375.html

11

JBIC has developed its ESG Policy
and Green Bond Framework toward realizing
the sustainable development of the world
ESG Policy to pursue net zero emissions in its financeportfolio

Development of JBIC Green Bond Framework from a global
perspective

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has developed
its own ESG Policy and JBIC Green Bond Framework toward realizing
sustainability.
JBIC released the ESG Policy in advance of the United Nations
Climate Change Conference (COP26) that was held in autumn 2021.
Climate change is one of the most urgent challenges facing the world’s
economies. JBIC is committed to pursuing ambitious and accelerated
efforts to reduce its operational emissions to net zero by 2030, and toachieve net zero emissions in its finance portfolio by 2050 toward theglobal implementation of the Paris Agreement. The main pillars of the
Policy are (1) strengthening climate change-related finance, (2)promoting climate-related financial disclosures pursuant to therecommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial
Disclosures (TCFD), and (3) promoting environmentally and sociallyconscious financing and investments.
By harnessing its risk-assuming function as a policy-based financial
institution as well as its negotiation leverage, JBIC will take the lead inglobal decarbonization, enhance its information disclosure, and promotebusiness development with consideration for environmental and social
impacts.

In the JBIC Green Bond Framework, JBIC summarizes its policy
pertaining to, among other matters, the four core components defined in
the Green Bond Principles 2021 published by the International CapitalMarket Association. These are: (1) Use of Proceeds, (2) ProjectEvaluation and Selection Process, (3) Management of the Proceeds, and(4) Reporting. Based on the Framework, in January 2022, JBIC issued
first Green Bonds to raise the necessary funds for green finance.
In the Fourth Medium-term Business Plan released in June 2021,
JBIC announced that it would “address global issues toward realizing
sustainable development for the global economy and society” as a key
focus area. JBIC aims to contribute toward the formation of a new
ecosystem, with a view towards reducing greenhouse gases worldwide
and realizing the decarbonization of Japan.

*1 Greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane

Visit the address below for press releases about these matters■JBIC ESG Policy

https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2021/1028-015365.html■Development of JBIC Green Bond Framework

https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/information/press/press-2021/1029-015355.html

JBIC Today April 2022
Published by】Press and External Affairs Division, Corporate Planning Department,
Corporate Planning Group, Japan Bank for International Cooperation
4-1, Ohtemachi 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8144, Japan
Cover photo : iStock*No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of JBIC.

Tel. +81-3-5218-3100 URL: https://www.jbic.go.jp/en/
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JBIC ESG Policy

Development of JBIC
Green Bond Framework