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Japan ~ Entreprenuership and Climate Change
posted on Monday, June 15, 2009 12:00 AM
grave lack of education on how to run a business in Japan
China had a good laugh at Japan earlier this month as Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, defended his 15% (below 2005 levels, and only 7% below 1999 levels) emissions cut target by 2020, which Environment Minister Tetsuo Saito claims it to be 'not ambitious enough. Japan should aim for a 25% reduction'. Evidently, keeping both environmentalists and manufacturers happy is no easy task. I-genius member Christian Debono says 'this is a very, very weak climate target and really bad for the poorest people on this planet who are already suffering’.
Moving on; ‘Where are all the entrepreneurs in Japan?’ A recent article in Forbes magazine, titled “Searching For Entrepreneurship in Japan” (http://tinyurl.com/nrzgma), posits that Japan is way behind the U.S. in entrepreneurship and needs to do something about improving the environment for breeding new companies so as to reinvigorate its economy. There is a great paucity of venture capital invested into Japanese start-ups, which is only around $3 billion a year for 3,000 companies in comparison to the US, where $30 billion venture capital is distributed to around 4,000 companies each year. There is indeed great numbers failing to get past the start-up line, those creating global focused businesses and a grave lack of education on how to run a business in Japan. For more on this study visit: http://fsi.stanford.edu/
However, Japan’s greatest untapped human resource is female entrepreneurship, which has seen a rapid rise at the turn of the century. It would appear that women are pulling away from the traditional managerial set-ups of Japanese society. A great solution for reversing Japan's economic challenges! So fear not my Japan lovers for it is not all doom and gloom in the land of the rising sun. It was only recently that the Liberal Democratic Party have put forward a policy that will lower school fees and give free checkups to pregnant women in an aim to tackle Japan's declining birthrate. The policy includes a push for free education and daycare for toddlers as well as incentives that would give families with multiple children preferential financial treatment for higher education (i.e. such families will pay no admission and tuition fees or half of the normally required fees for their children’s high school and university education). Sounds fantastic to us!
Comments
I-Genius Team
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 12:30 PM
I totally agree with you Christian. However, in a country such as Japan where your everyday citizen has no concern for environmental issues... it would be a great miracle to see the Japanese in great numbers push the government to act seriously.
Christian Debono
Monday, June 15, 2009 11:42 PM
Indeed its not looking so good for the UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen but all the people living in the developed countries have to continue pushing their governments for stronger targets...or indeed the story will not end nicely next December
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