Japanese experts show Vietnamese businesses how to access their market

Japanese business expert Hiroaki Katsukawa has highlighted the importance of product quality when working with businesses from his country.

Katsukawa was speaking at an event titled "New thinking in expanding sales channels" organized by the Association of High Quality Vietnamese Goods with the Small and Medium Enterprise Consulting Association of Japan's Kanagawa prefecture in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday.

"Having high-quality, certified products will ensure a lasting relationship when you do business with any companies and sell to any nations. You create new and improved products and launch them based on that. Thus, the quality of the product must be prioritized," Katsukawa added at the event.

Katsukawa is now the representative director of K-Consulting. He was previously IBM's SI Business director and director of information systems development, in charge of the Asian region.

Hiroyuki Iwamatsu, another expert, told The Investor that if Vietnamese businesses want to enter Japan, they need to determine where to sell and which distributors to target.

Iwamatsu has 50 years of international business experience at Mitsuibusan, worked in Indonesia for eight years, and acted as a consultant for the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their operations abroad.

He added that Vietnamese businesses should also take advantage of exhibitions and fairs to find buyers. Besides, entrepreneurs need to rely on their sixth sense to judge whether a partner is trustworthy or not.

Iwamatsu said that the Vietnamese market still has several issues that need to be developed, the most important of which is a weak supporting industry sector. On the contrary, Japan is strong in supporting industries, but the country lacks future generations.

"Businesses in Japan need to be passed on to the next generation. Currently, about 99% of medium-sized enterprises and small enterprises in Japan hold the majority of new and superior techniques, but they have no successors.

"Therefore, combining Japanese businesses with Vietnamese businesses is the right thing to do. In particular, we are focusing on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises to develop the market as well as connecting experts in technology, engineering, and sales," Iwamatsu added.