Japan Update Coming Thursday
Governor Eric Holcomb will be the keynote speaker at this week's event.
The Japan-America Society of Indiana’s annual Japan Update conference is set for Thursday in Indianapolis. Governor Eric Holcomb will be among the speakers at the event designed to provide a yearly business, economic and international relations outlook for Japan, Indiana and Asia.
Other speakers include Americas-Japan Relations Committee Chairman Yukio Tada, Carnegie Endowment For International Peace Senior Fellow James Schoff and Bernard Swiecki with the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Indiana Economic Development Corp. President Jim Schellinger will also provide an overview of Indiana-Japan business partnerships. In addition, a panel called "Indiana Partners in Manufacturing" will feature Japanese executives with companies that have made recent investments in Indiana.
Japan is Indiana’s largest trading partner outside of North America. Senator Todd Young recently met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, saying he was particularly optimistic about "continued investment in the automobile sector in particular."
The event is set for Thursday, February 23 at Hyatt Regency Indianapolis. You can see the full schedule and register online by clicking here. The speakers are:
Harold Force, President, Force Construction Company
Satoru Fukai, President, Fukai Toyotetsu Indiana Corporation, Jamestown
Hideoki Kimura, President, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Cold Heading Wire Indiana, Shelbyville
Tony Miller, Senior Vice President, Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing
Peter Morse, Honorary Consul of Japan in Indianapolis
Peter Robson, Senior Director of Intelligent Machine Control, Komatsu America
Paul Roland, Director, State of Indiana Japan Office
Jim Schellinger, Secretary of Commerce, State of Indiana
James L. Schoff, Senior Fellow, Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington D.C.
Keizo Shirakura, Consul of Economic Affairs, Consulate General of Japan in Chicago
Ichiro Soné, Chief Executive Director, Japan External Trade Organization, Chicago
John Sutherland, Director of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Purdue University
Bernard Swiecki, Senior Automotive Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR), Ann Arbor
Yukio Tada, Chairman of the Americas-Japan Relations Committee, Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives); Senior Advisor, Sojitz Research Institute, Tokyo
Yoshiyuki Takasago, Director-General, Commerce and Industry, Commerce, Industry & Tourism Department, Miyagi Prefecture Government, Sendai
Shigeki Tonoike, CEO, Tonoike Shuzouten Co., Ltd., Tochigi Prefecture, Japan
Melanie Walker, President, TASUS Corporation, CEO, Tsuchiya Group North America