TOPICS

Thank you so much for all guests who participated in the 2nd Tokyo Business Seminar !!

1) Summary of the Seminar

The Business Seminar was held by Tokyo Metropolitan Government for the foreign deplomats, foreign affiliated firms and entrepreneurs at the conference room (5F) of JETRO on Tuesday, October 27, 2009.
This was the second annual Seminar and guest speakers from different type of industries made addresses and Q&A session on the subject that how to start business and get good results in Tokyo (Japan) which will be the most popular and keen interest among foreign entrepreneurs. More than one hundred of guests were joined from foreign diplomatic staffs as well as foreign entrepreneurs who proved eventually the high level of interest in the theme of the Seminar.
The speakers were represented by Mr. Tommy Kullberg, Chairman of the European Business Council (EBC) and Mr. Helio Galvao, President of Marisoft Technologies and they both gave lectures on the differences in business practice and national characteristic as well as the key point to the success to start business in Japan based on their abundant experience of international business. Tokyo Metropolitan Government also introduced the portal services of consultations and inquiries in details provided by Tokyo Business Entry Point (TBEP).
After the Seminar the interexchange meeting was held among the participants having similar experiences and troubles and consequently the excellent opportunity for the exchange of useful informations with each other was created. Some good news for the realization of the business matching were reported after the said meeting
There were some participants who learned for the first time the service activities provided by Tokyo Business Entry point (TBEP) for foreign affiliated firms and entrepreneurs without any charge as well and some of them visited TBEP at a later date to ask for the face to face meeting for the specific consultations.

【PROGRAM】

1. Opening words from the organizers: Hitoshi Yamate, Senior Director, Commerce and Industry Division, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
2. First speaker: Tommy Kullberg, Chairman of the European Business Council
"Successful ways on how to mess up your business in Japan !"
3. Recess
4. Lecture by the organizer: Yuka Watanabe, Director for Attraction of Foreign Direct Investment in Tokyo, Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
5. Second speaker: Helio Galvao Ciffoni, representative managing director of Malisoft Technologies
"We need each other: doing business in Tokyo"
6. Q&A
7. Post-seminar social gathering

2) Speaker profiles

Chairman Tommy Kullberg, European Business Council
Profile
Mr. Kullberg has worked as a businessman and diplomat in Japan for more than 20 years. He served as company president of Gadelius, and also worked as its chairman, a duty he has performed at several of the ABB Group's subsidiary companies in Europe and Asia. Between 1994 and 1999, he represented Sweden's trading companies by being pointed the position of commercial councilor at the Swedish embassy in Tokyo.
In 2002, he founded Ikea Japan, and guided the Swedish furniture retailer to great success in the country as its representative director until 2006. He has also served as director of H & M Hennes & Mauritz K.K. during their entry phase into the Jpanese market. Currently, Mr. Kullberg is Chairman of Kullberg & Partners and also serves as an advisor to Gambro, a maker of medical equipment.

Representative manging director Helio Galvao Ciffoni, Malisoft Technologies
Profile
Mr. Ciffoni has made over 35 business trips to Japan and other Asian countries, and has acquired a deep knowledge of Japanese business culture, including within technology sector. With extensive personal connections, he now consults Brazilian software and service companies as they move into the Japanese market. His current focus is the promotion of international business between Central and South America and Japan.
In addition, Mr. Ciffoni started Sapiens Global in October of 2009 with the support of Tokyo Business Entry Point. He is a founder and is still a partner of the firm
Since 2001, he has helped to direct the flow of offshoring from Japanese customers to Brazilian software factories as the CEO of Malisoft Technologies. As an IT executive, he has met success in Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Algeria, the United States, and elsewhere.