Investing in Japan
Regional Information
Oita
Building a “Safe, Vigorous and Progressive” Oita Prefecture for the 21st Century
- Your Regional Guide: Hisami Akizuki
Inquiry form
Promotion of Industrial Location Division, Commerce, Industry, and Labor Department
3-1-1 Ohte-machi, Oita-city Oita Prefecture 870-8501
TEL: +81-97-506-3246 FAX: +81-97-506-1755
- Basic Information
- Regional Profile
- Services for investment in Japan
- Available incentives
- Living environment for foreigners
- Links to Related Websites
Basic Information
| Population | 1.21 million (Male: 0.57 million, Female: 0.64 million) (2008) |
|---|---|
| Labor force | 0.74 million (Male: 0.36 million, Female: 0.38 million) (2007) |
| Area | 6,339km² (2005) |
| GDP | 4,473 billion yen |
| Major industries | Automobile-related, iron and steel, chemicals, shipbuilding, semiconductors, food-related articles |
| Developing industries | Automobile-related industries, clusters of materials and shipbuilding industries on the coastal area, electronic and electrical machine industries and related fields, food-related industries. |
| Offices overseas | Shanghai (China) |
| Offices in Japan | Tokyo/Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture/Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| JETRO office | JETRO Oita |
Regional Profile
Strength of the region's industries and economy
Oita Prefecture is the scene of well-balanced advances by the steel, chemical, semiconductor, machinery, oil, automotive and other important industries, with expansion by solidly performing companies and other progress leading to the clustering of cutting edge businesses. In the midst of a positive cycle in which such industry concentrations spawn even greater clusters, an increasingly growing number of business opportunities are opening up in the prefecture.
Reacting to this situation, the “Oita Industrial Creation Strategy 2008” was drawn up with the goal of achieving sustained and stable growth for the prefecture’s economy, based on the following three pillars.
- Evolution of industrial clusters and challenging local companies to rise to greater heights.
- Cultivation and retention of outstanding human resources as the key to the challenges.
- Rising to the challenge of promoting commerce and forging the “Oita brand.”
The goal of this strategy is to support the personnel at companies with the backbone to rise to the challenges with an enterprising spirit, while promoting the creation of a business environment capable of empowering entrepreneurs to take advantage of opportunities and rise to the challenges ahead. Every possible effort will be made to ensure that companies locating in the prefecture will be supplied on a timely and integrated basis with the conditions and support needed for them to excel and develop in Oita, outstanding manpower, precious regional resources, wide-ranging industrial concentration and otherwise to reap benefits of the region.
Strength of the region's education/research institutes
Educational institutions include Oita University, Oita National College of Technology, the Oita Institute of Technology junior college and technical high schools, which graduate large numbers of capable students into the industrial workforce.
Of particular interest is the fact that the prefecture hosts around 3,800 international students from some 80 countries, giving Oita the second highest ratio of such students to its population of any prefecture in Japan after that of Tokyo Metropolis. In striving to best mobilize the rich abilities of these students, the University Consortium Oita was founded in November 2004 as a joint initiative managed by the industrial, government and academic sectors. A system has been put into place under which students can be sought out by country and specialization, while also enlisting the cooperation to the business sector as the needs arise. With regard to research institutes, in addition to the aforementioned educational institutions, the prefecture's manufacturing sector also includes the Oita Industrial Research Institute. This organization is active in technical guidance, training to foster company researchers, development of manufacturing prototypes, practical application technology R&D and other efforts.
Industry-government-academia collaboration
In Oita Prefecture, programs to attract companies to the region are being promoted with the key priority on cutting edge manufacturing industries, as well as parts and materials industries supporting fields with expansive bases. Moreover, to promote industries that will mobilize the distinguishing characteristics of each region, programs are organized to advance collaboration between agriculture and industry and otherwise attract companies capable of putting the regional resources to optimum use.
In fiscal 2007, a basic plan for Oita Prefecture was drawn up on the basis of Japan's Corporate Location Promotion Law, with programs now being advanced to attract business advances with the focus on the following areas: ① The automobile-related industry; ② materials and shipbuilding industry clusters in the coastal region; ③ electrical and electronic industries and related fields; and ④ food-related industries.
The concentration of automotive-related industries is particularly accelerating, backed by the expansion and startup of operations at the Daihatsu Kyushu K.K. No. 2 Plant, successive capital investment and production increases by Toyota, Nissan and other companies in the Kyushu region and the accompanying advances by primary parts suppliers. The plan is to continue to treat this as a period in time during which “Clustering will spawn further concentration,” in striving to achieve redoubled accumulation of the automotive industry in the prefecture. Toward that end, the Oita Automotive Industry Development Program is being used as the foundation for advancing collaboration between automobile-related companies operating in the prefecture, while providing intensive support for new participation and expanded transactions by highly motivated local companies. The goal is to use these programs to improve the manufacturing technology of local companies, and achieve greater concentrations of automobile-related industries being promoted by both newly advancing and local companies.
The prefecture also has a cluster of major semiconductor manufacturers such as Toshiba Semiconductor Company and Texas Instruments, as well as local companies highly adept in the semiconductor back-end (final manufacture) stage. To emerge victorious in the tough inter-regional competition, which will continue to heat up from here on, there is a need for both further improvements in the technical prowess of local companies and strengthened collaboration between individual firms. Targeting this goal, the Oita LSI Cluster Plan is being used to promote R&D, human resource training and market development through alliances forged between highly motivated local companies, major semiconductor manufacturers and research institutes from universities and other entities. For R&D, in addition to the pattern of having issues resolved by advancing companies, also being tackled are themes based on the future expectations for local companies, in striving to foster local companies with unique technologies.
Strength of the region's infrastructure
Using Oita Airport, an international airport, makes it possible to fly to Tokyo, Okinawa and Seoul, South Korea in about 90 minutes. Connecting from the airport is Higashi Kyushu Expressway, which links up the north and south regions of the prefecture, as well as the Kyushu Odan Expressway that intersects Kyushu from east to west. The result is excellent access to the prefectural capital of Oita City and most all other regions around Oita, as well as to the other prefectures on Kyushu.
The prefecture also contains 5 important ports, including Nakatsu Port, Oita Port and others.
<Land>
Based on the “In-Prefecture 60 Minute and Urban Bloc 30 Minute Road Transport Sphere Vision,” a road network is almost entirely in place that makes it possible reach all major cities in the prefecture within 60 minutes (the focus on Oita City), and to come and go within the urban blocs of the major cities in the prefecture within 30 minutes.
<Air>
Oita Airport, the gateway to the skies of east Kyushu, operates regularly scheduled flights to Japan's major cities (Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya), as well as to Seoul in South Korea. Oitakenou Airport, managed by the prefecture, is also home for the Faculty of Aerospace of Nippon Bunri University and the research being advanced at that academic unit.
<Sea>
A container terminal has been built in the Ozai district of Oita City, with oversea links through 5 service routes (4 to Pusan and 1 to Shanghai). Nakatsu Port in Nakatsu City has been designated an important port, and is being improved with the goal of opening overseas routes. (The five important ports in Oita Prefecture include Nakatsu Port, Beppu Port, Oita Port, Tsukumi Port and Saeki Port.)
Foreign company(s) operating in the industry
The following types of foreign companies have located operations in Oita Prefecture to date, and are active in semiconductors, chemicals, agriculture and numerous other fields.
- Texas Instruments Incorporated Hiji Plant (America) Electric machine manufacturing, general-purpose logic and linear, wafer process
- Pharmasia Oita Factory (America) Chemical industry, pharmaceuticals
- Fresenius Kawasumi Inukai Factory (Germany) Chemical industry, blood dialysis hollowpaper
- Swedeponic Kuji (Sweden) Agriculture, farm products
- Sun Allom Ltd. Oita Plant (Netherland) Chemical industry, polypropylene
Services for investment in Japan
| Menu of services | Fees charged? | Content of services |
|---|---|---|
| Providing market information | ||
| Advice on market participation | No | Oita Prefectural Organization for Industry Creation: An integrated one-stop service consultation center set up to address matters related to business launches, management reorganization, new alliances and issues and management questions faced by small- and medium-sized companies in the prefecture. |
| Consulting by external experts and advisers | Yes | Oita Prefectural Organization for Industry Creation: Experts registered at this body are dispatched to venture businesses and other small- and medium-sized enterprises actively striving to resolve their management problems. |
| Support for establishing a base | ||
| Listing of potential customers and partners | No | Oita Prefectural Organization for Industry Creation: Registration of company profiles. |
| Listing of potential customers and partners | No | Oita Prefectural Organization for Industry Creation: Supplying of information in support of customer and market development. |
| Support for establishing a base | ||
| Providing incubation facilities or other facilities | Yes | Oita Prefectural Organization for Industry Creation: Oita Prefecture i-Plaza (IT industries only). |
| Providing incubation facilities or other facilities | No | Implemented at Oita Prefecture Promotion of Industrial Location Division |
| Providing information on procedures for investing in Japan | No | Implemented at Oita Prefecture Promotion of Industrial Location Division |
| Arranging the meetings needed to establish a base (real estate, manpower services) | No | Implemented at Oita Prefecture Promotion of Industrial Location Division |
| Introduction of available properties and advice on hiring personnel | No | Implemented at Oita Prefecture Promotion of Industrial Location Division |
| Providing information on permits and licensing procedures | No | Implemented at Oita Prefecture Promotion of Industrial Location Division |
| Providing information on subsidy programs | No | Implemented at Oita Prefecture Promotion of Industrial Location Division |
Database of candidate partners
The capacity to search for basic information on industry categories, capitalization, number of employees and other information concerning business establishments in Oita Prefecture.
Available incentives
- Complimentary supply of information and advice on establishing business bases, human resources, real estate properties and other needs on a one-stop basis.
- Systems available for partial subsidizing of costs, depending on amount of investment and other factors.
<Subsidy to promote business attraction>
Conditions: Total investment of at least 300 million yen, at least 10 new employees hired.
Available subsidy: 3 percent of amount invested plus 500,000 yen per employee.
Limit of subsidy: Up to 300 million yen.
<Large-scale investment promotion subsidy>
Conditions: Total investment of at least 8 billion yen, at least 80 new employees hired.
Available subsidy: 5 percent of amount invested.
Limit of subsidy: Up to 1 billion yen.
Living environment for foreigners
| Living environment | Oita Prefecture offers hot springs, excellent cuisine, lush natural environments, wonderful hospitality and numerous other attractions, factors that have helped contribute to a steady increase in domestic and overseas tourists and international students over the years. In terms of the ratio of foreign students to population, Oita is the second highest prefecture in Japan after Tokyo Metropolis. Oita is also utilizing its geographical advantages in lying close to Asia to begin to build an international exchange base. At the Oita International Plaza, legal consultations, advice on the Japanese social security system and various other support services are offered to meet the needs of non-Japanese. |
|---|---|
| Health services catering to foreigners | There are 155 medical institutions able to provide service in foreign languages. |
| Other |
Links to Related Websites
- welcome to oita prefecture
- Oita Municipal Guide
- OITA GUIDE
- Welcome to Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
- Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences
- Oita International Information Plaza
