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Trade visit to strengthen North East ? Japan links

Specialist engineers are to visit the Far East to strengthen trade links between the North East and Japan. The trip will take in visits to Honda, Nissan and Toyota as well as some key suppliers where the delegates will learn more about their manufacturing techniques and models of best practice, and see first hand how the Japanese market works. It has been organised by the North East Productivity Alliance (NEPA) which works with manufacturing companies to improve their competitiveness. Companies which have signed up for the trip include Greggs, United Biscuits, SSL, Sanofi, TMD Friction, Corus and SCA.

In a separate trip, One NorthEast, County Durham Development Company (CDDC) and the region’s universities have joined forces to organise a visit to showcase the region’s scientists research strenghts to their Japanese counterparts. The visit will also highlight the acclaimed work of NETPark, the region’s premier science and technology park.

David Allison, Director of Business and Industry at One NorthEast, said: “The North East’s links with Japan are already extensive, with the region home to some 50 investors employing around 10,000 people and producing a turnover in excess of £2.7bn. “The next step is to help more of our businesses break into the lucrative Japanese market. The benefits of them achieving this are enormous.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .