Japan External Trade Organization

Almost every single major country, actually I can't think of a major country in Southeast Asia or Northeast Asia that doesn't have some kind of significant government program, often a dedicated government agency that is focused on how do we help startups, but also how do we help create the ecosystem that the startups need to be able to survive.

If you look in Japan, you have JETRO, you have a whole bunch of different folks.

In Korea, wow, you have NYPA, you have the Centers for the Creative Economy, you have COTRA, you have a vast variety of organizations in Korea that are spending money and devoting resources.

In Malaysia, you have MDEC.

I liked it.

And the event was sponsored by the Japan External Trade Organization's Berlin office.

A JETRO official said the organization wants to tell German consumers more about Japanese rice.

This includes showing them that it's, uh, produced in many different parts of Japan and that each has a different taste and texture.

He noted Japanese institutions have been expanding into retail lending, credit for micro, small, and medium enterprises, banking distribution, investment banking, asset management, and insurance.

Twelve dedicated industrial townships across nine Indian states have been established to accommodate Japanese investors, featuring translation and facilitation desks, utilities built to Japanese operational standards, residential clusters, and a consolidated regulatory pathway running through both Japan Plus and the Japan External Trade Organization, JETRO.

Singapore ranked second among foreign direct investment sources that quarter, channeling $5.22 billion into India.

Mauritius placed third with $2.4 billion, followed by the Netherlands at $1.38 billion, and the United States at $1.35 billion.

Then Jason and Yuki hear some pitches from some amazing Japanese founders.

Thanks to JETRO for powering this awesome event.

Enjoy the show.

How's everybody doing? [cheering] Oh, now it's good.

Um, it's great to be back in Japan.

I have been coming every six months now.

Uh, I am very lucky because, um, uh, JETRO asked me last year, "Hey, would you, uh, come to Japan and bring your founder university, and bring it to Japan?" And I said, uh, "Oh, twist my arm." And they twisted it.

Oh, and I went, "Oh, okay, I'll come." Um, because I love coming to Japan, and I've been coming for many years, uh, maybe 25 years.

not here.

So actually, I found this program because I participate in the other program in the JETRO.

It's part of Launch Accelerator.

It's called a pre-accelerator called Founder University.

And then we just came to know that.

Wait,

so that program is part of JETRO? It's part of JETRO, yes.

And then it's turned out Jetro is, perception is just kind of the same as you.

And yeah, education in general.

I mean, JETRO is there.

Their mission is to help Japanese startups go abroad.

I mean, before going abroad, they need to help Japanese startups exist in the first place, right? So...

and we need investors for them to exist.

So I would say part of the mission of government institutions like JETRO and the others, they should do education on what is energy investments and how it's good for the investors themselves and the entire country.

Right, and also how to de-risk it.

i'm just putting myself in you know somebody's shoes who just retired they have all the savings and everything they got all this money that they got for their retirement and they get presented about angel investment which nine out of ten startups will fail right and like oh that seems like a bad investment i don't know if i would do that right but what they don't see is that one that pays for their like creates generational wealth or something for you know for their family and everything