JETRO BIOLINK FORUM 2008
JETRO, together with the BioJapan 2008 Organizing Committee, will hold “JETRO BIOLINK FORUM 2008 (BIOLINK 2008)” at Pacifico Yokohama and the Yokohama Royal Park Hotel on October　15th-17th, during the period of “BioJapan 2008” (October 15th-17th). BIOLINK FORUM includes a seminar, the Cluster & Company Networking Reception and other business partnering opportunities, such as a presentation by a leading US pharmaceutical firm for potential tie-ups and access to a web-based business matching service.

For more information, please visit http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/biolink,

Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta 2008)
The 2nd Japan International Contents Festival (CoFesta 2008) will be held from September 30th to October 28th in Tokyo, consisting of exhibitions and shows related to content fields such as gaming, animation, manga, broadcasting, films and music. The festival, the world’s largest content industry event, aims to introduce leading Japanese content to a global audience and provide an opportunity for interaction and business among content industry professionals from Japan and abroad.

JETRO is involved in three events in the festival: a seminar at JAM 2008 (Japan Animation Collabo Market) on October 17th, 10:30-12:40 on the prospects for secondary use of anime contents in the Chinese market; a seminar at TIFFCOM, on October 23rd, 10:30-12:00 on the latest trends in China’s film and TV market; and a seminar at TIFF (the 21st Tokyo International Film Festival) on October 20th, 15:00-17:00 on current trends in the European film market and France’s government polices on film.

For more information, please visit CoFesta’s official website at: http://www.cofesta.jp/index_e.html

7th New Industry Creation Regional Collaboration Forum
This October 14th, JETRO, together with Queensland Government Trade & Investment Office-Tokyo, will organize the 7th New Industry Creation Regional Collaboration Forum at JETRO Headquarters Tokyo (5th Floor Conference Room A and B, 1-12-32 Akasaka Minato-ku, Tokyo), from 14:30 to 18:00, under the theme, “Promoting Cross-border Tie-ups in the Medical Industry –Learning From the Experience of Australia and Kobe.”

The forum will be held as part of JETRO’s Regional Industry Tie-up (RIT) program, which promotes two-way industrial exchange and collaboration between regions in Japan and other countries, with the aim of facilitating new business tie-ups that invigorate the local economies of participating regions.

The event will include presentations and a panel discussion by representatives from the medical industry in Japan and Australia, followed by a networking reception. Participants will have an opportunity to learn about the latest trends in the medical industry, including international tie-up plans in the fields involving Kobe as well as the latest in clinical trials and medical equipment trends in Queensland.

Admission is free, but pre-registration is required. English-to-Japanese simultaneous interpretation service will be provided. For more information, please visit: http://www.jetro.go.jp/events/seminar/20080903151-event (Japanese only)

JETRO Chairman Takes Part in UNCTAD High Level Segment Meeting
JETRO Chairman and CEO, Yasuo Hayashi, gave a speech at the High Level Segment Meeting of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva on September 15th, mainly dealing with African development and JETRO’s activities to enhance mutual trade with the continent. In his speech, Mr. Hayashi stressed the importance of boosting Africa’s trade and investment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He also spoke about the results of TICAD IV, or the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which was held in Yokohama this past May.

Please see the following link for full speech text: http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/jetro/profile/speeches/2008/sep15.pdf

JETRO Periodical
The 2007 Survey of Japanese-Affiliated Firms in ASEAN and India is now available on the JETRO website:
http://www.jetro.go.jp/en/reports/survey/pdf/2008_06_biz.pdf