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Speech by H.E. Mr. Nobutaka Shionomiya,
Thank you, Mr. Carlos Barros, Mr. Satoru HAYASHI, Executive Vice-Chairman of Fujitsu Technology Slutions GMBH,
Ladies and gentleman, Good Morning!
It is a pleasure for me to speak here today at this seminar, held by Fujitsu - a company which celebrated its 75th anniversary in business last year and is prepared in taking on the new challenges facing the future Information Technology industry.
Last year marked 150th anniversary since Portugal and Japan established diplomatic relations. It is significant that such a seminar on IT industry - a promising area of cooperation - was organized in the time we must further deepen the partnership between our two countries.
When we look back at our bilateral economic relations, we know that over the 1970s to the 1980s, investments made by Japan to Portugal began and gradually increased mainly in the manufacturing business. Later, Japanese companies shifted its investment towards the Eastern Europe. As a result, investments to Portugal slightly stagnated. Today, direct investments to Portugal are made by about 50 Japanese companies.
Nevertheless, Japanese investments to Portugal in recent years have greatly progressed in the aspects of “quality”. Take the case of the investment by Fujitsu, which established “Service Center” in Portugal in 2008. I heard that there are approximately 1000 workers who offer IT service support to 100 thousand IT users from 106 countries. This is an example of a shift in the form of investment from tangible products to intangible products, due to the advancement in the technological capabilities of Portugal.
Moreover, in the manufacturing field as well, there is an increase in Japanese investment for producing more high-value-added products recently. For instance, today’s Automobile Industries in the world are making efforts in developing and producing electronic vehicles. In Portugal, a factory of lithium-ion battery - crucial component for such type of new car - is being established by one Japanese leading automobile company.
Portugal is eager in developing a society using a clean energy; thus, quickly worked through to address the introduction of electric vehicle. Adapting new social systems generate new “needs” on related products. Consequently, Portugal became a field of experiment in this new area of technology - therefore inducing Japanese companies for new investments.
Furthermore, Portugal is yearning to introduce renewable energy. Renewable energy here reached more than 40% of all area of generating electricity. This is an astounding number. Following the Great Earthquake and the accident in the nuclear power plants in Japan, last March, our government has no choice but to revise our energy policy. Therefore, increase in renewable energy is absolutely necessary in Japan. In order to achieve this task, we have many challenges in both tangible and intangible problems.
The advancement of IT is extremely important not only in the area of energy development but also in other areas to construct an advanced society. Regarding this matter, it is interesting that the Portuguese banks provide more diverse, convenient ATM services than that of Japan. Hence, I think that we have much to learn from Portugal’s experience and that there is a great potential for our two nations to cooperate bilaterally in these fields.
The company Fujitsu had started their business in tele-communication and brushing up their information technology that sustained and developed the field of a highly public communication infrastructure. Information Technology developed in Fujitsu have also contributed in resolving various problems in the society and in business to enrich our lives. I believe that in the future, IT will bring more benefit to the humanity on numerous different matters, serving not only in the fields of energy but also as a solution to the aging society or development of medical care and pharmaceuticals, and many more.
To conclude, it is my wish for Fujitsu, which has achieved a lot in the IT industry, to further advance its business here and contribute for Portuguese economy, as well as to set sail its results to the world from Portugal, just like in the Age of Exploration, but this time with Portugal and Japan together. I believe that today’s seminar will be meaningful also for these purposes.
Thank you very much for your attention.
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