IS S U E 39 Switzerland Newsletter J U N E 2 0 1 2 External Trade Organization

会見

INTERVIEW

Inside this United Coffee is acquired by Japanese coffee leader UCC issue UCC Holdings Co Ltd. (UCC) our potential. They contacted us United Coffee 1 acquired Geneva-based United in November of last year and is acquired by Coffee. Founded in 1933 in Kobe, initial discussions were just to Japanese cof- fee leader UCC is Japan’s leading coffee get to know each other. All UCC company. through the process, we got to Japan’s cur- 2 Signed on April 23, 2012 the ac- know each other better and bet- rent economic quisition process is scheduled to ter”, explained Mr. Harkjaer. situation be completed during the second The acquisition by one of the Meeting of 2 quarter of 2012. leading coffee companies in the Japanese busi- world will be a great opportu- ness leaders in Zurich United Coffee moved its head nity for United Coffee to office to Geneva strengthen its business in the Enjoy sushi in 3 a tram tour world, and especially in Asia and through Zu- In March 2010, the head office of Japan. It will also be a chance for rich United Coffee was moved from Per Harkjaer, UCC to expand through Europe. Lower House 3 the Netherlands to Geneva. CEO, United Coffee After the acquisition, UCC will of Japan ap- United Coffee employs 900 peo- become one of the top five big- proved bill to double sales ple around the world and pro- Worldwide business expan- gest independent coffee compa- tax duces over 60,000 tons of sion nies in the world. and 4 roasted coffee per year, account- UCC has introduced the world’s will ing for 8 billion cups of coffee. It The new Japanese parent com- first canned coffee in 1969. jointly develop next genera- has seven factories in Europe - in pany UCC has a turnover of “United Coffee will sell it in tion TVs Netherlands (2), in Spain, in EUR 3.4 billion and a total of Europe, but we do not have spe- Switzerland (2), in the UK and 3,700 employees. It also has cific plans yet”, said Mr. Hark- in France. plantations in Jamaica and Ha- jaer. “We are the number one in waii, and seven factories in Ja- United Coffee has launched at Europe in the supply of Private pan. “UCC is a much bigger the beginning of this year es- Label coffee and among the top 5 company. They have plantations, presso coffee capsules and ma- in the overall supply of coffee an industrial business and a chines. Will UCC sell it in Japan across Europe”, said Per Hark- number of coffee shops”, ex- and Asia? “I hope so, but we are jaer, CEO of United Coffee. plained United Coffee’s CEO. still in the process of building a Despite the difficult situation in However, founded by Tadao plan”, he further said. Mr Hark- the coffee business, United Cof- Ueshima, UCC remains a family- jaer also announced that there fee has been able to increase its owned company. It is now man- will be no management change production volume by 5-10 % aged by the founder’s grandson, in Geneva. Furthermore, UCC over the last years. Gota Ueshima. Japanese staff will join UCC “UCC has a strategy to grow Europe. internationally and they knew

Page 2 JETRO Switzerland Newsletter

Japan’s current economic situation 動向 According to the Bank of Japan, 2012 from a year earlier, to ¥ 5,235 “Japan's economic activity has billion. Exports to the United

SITUATION started picking up moderately as States (+38.2%) and to Canada domestic demand remains firm (+34.2%) soared, whereas exports mainly supported by reconstruc- to China increased only 3.0% and tion-related demand” (Monthly exports to Western Europe were Report of Recent Economic and down 4.8%. Transport equipments Financial Developments, June (motor vehicles, parts, etc.) ac- 2012). counting for 38.6% of Japan’s total As shown by the graph, industrial exports almost doubled (+95.5%). production is increasing since the The domestic demand has in- Great East Japan Earthquake. The creased. The average of monthly index of the industrial production consumption expenditures per rose from 82.5 in March 2011 to household for April 2012 was 95.4 in April 2012, showing an in- ¥ 301,948, up 3.2% in nominal crease by 15.6%. terms and up 2.6% in real terms Furthermore, Japan’s GDP grew 1.0 from the previous year. In addition, Index of Industrial Production during the first quarter of 2012 (2005=100) the consumer price index was (4.1% at annual rate) and 1.2% Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry 100.4 (2010=100), up 0.1% from the during the second quarter (4.7% at previous month and up 0.4% over annual rate). It shows a faster GDP grew 0.5%. the year. Moreover, the unemploy- growth than other developed re- Japan’s economy is stimulated by ment rate was 4.6% in April, mark- gions. According to OECD statis- the recovery of exports (especially ing a decrease by 4.3% from the tics, European Union’s GDP re- to the United States) and by a previous year. mained stable (0.0%) during the strong domestic demand. first quarter and the United States’ Exports were up 10.0% in May

Meeting of Japanese business leaders in Zurich 活動 The General Assembly of the Japa- economy. nese Chamber of Commerce and He reported about numerous ac- ACTIVITY Industry of Zurich (JCCI Zurich) tivities carried out during the past was held on June 15, 2012 at the year. He made reference among Zurich’s restaurant Sala of . others to a charity concert held for H.E. Mr. Kazuyoshi Umemoto, the victims of the Great East Japan Ambassador of Japan in Switzer- Earthquake. On this occasion, land, welcomed the participants more than CHF 3,000 were col- and outlined the recent improve- General Assembly of the Japanese Chamber lected for the benefit of the Japa- of Commerce and Industry of Zurich ment of the Japanese economic nese Red Cross. situation. outlined that the business situation Mr. Makoto Kinone, President of Mr. Akihiko Shimizu, President of of Nippon Express is recovering Nomura Bank (Switzerland), has JCCI Zurich, and President of since the beginning of this year, been elected President of JCCI Nippon Express (Switzerland) reflecting the situation of Japan’s Zurich for the next term.

Issue 39 Page 3

Enjoy sushi in a tram tour through Zurich meat). 行事 “All the story of tram-restaurant in Zurich started 19 years ago with EVENT the “Japan-Tram”, where for the first time Japanese meals were served by our caterer”, explained Tino Kunz, who is in charge of this project at Zurich’s Public Trans- port Operator VBZ. VBZ operates a fondue-tram in winter and has started sushi tram again in 2008. “We found that sushi is the most prospective for business: it is a trendy and healthy Sushi-Tram at Bellevue, Zurich Tino Kunz, food; it fits with Zurich’s lifestyle; Head of Cooperation and Extra-Trips, VBZ From Thursday to Saturday, Zu- and it has a cost related to the rate of 80%, but by now we are at rich’s population can see a special good quality of food”, he said. 50%. So, we are not yet satisfied. tram running in the evening: the In addition, he pointed out VBZ’s We need to intensify the promo- Sushi-Tram. objectives in this project: make an tion and we will also contact the Departing at Bellevue stop, Sushi- additional profit, provide an image Japanese community”, said Mr. Tram goes for a two-hour tour of a “nice, modern and innovative Kunz. along Limmatquai and in the di- company”, and strengthen the po- He expects to have a total of 5,000 rections of Enge, Oerlikon and sition of Public Transport as a to 5,500 people this year - “6,000 Stauffacherstrasse. Up to 42 pas- mean of transport also in leisure people if we are very lucky”. Tino sengers eat inside a three-dish time Kunz also announced that this Japanese menu: miso soup with Fishes are imported by Bianchi and project will be continued next vegetables, tofu and udon noodles; served by Lake Side Restaurant. year. a set of maki and nigiri; and a Japa- “We selected this restaurant be- nese-Italian dessert made with cause of our long cooperation as For further information: tram-caterer and the excellent panna cotta and yuzu. It also pro- http://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/vbz/ vides an alternative menu for peo- quality of their sushis”, Mr. Kunz de/index/freizeit_events/ ple who do not eat fish with Ta- said. genuss_mit_den_vbz/gastro_fahrten.html taki (Japanese way of cooking “Our goal is to reach an occupancy www.sushitram.ch Tel: 0848 80 18 80

Lower House of Japan approved bill to double sales tax House of Representatives (Lower favor and 96 against (including 57 政策 House of Japan’s Parliament) ap- from the ruling party). proved on June 25, 2012, the bill to The objective is to reduce Japan’s POLICY double Japan’s 5% consumption government debt. According to tax. The bill will rise the consump- IMF estimate, it will account for tion tax to 8% in April 2014 and to more than 235% of Japan’s GDP 10% in October 2015. (over ¥ 1,124,400 billion) this year. 363 members of the House voted in

Issue 39 Page 4

Sony and Panasonic will jointly develop next generation TVs 革新 panels and modules for TVs and nologies which enable the produc- large-sized displays. They plan to tion of OLED large-sized high- INNOVATION mass-produce OLED TVs next resolution screens through the “all year. printing method”. OLED TVs are expected to be the The partnership marks the first dominant technology in the next time the two companies collabo- generation TV. They will save more rate for a significant project. energy than current generation of Sony’s sales slightly decreased Sony Bravia HX850 series with LED TVs and feature a sharper 0.5% to 7,181.3 billion in FY 2012, Monolith Design With the permission of Sony Europe Limited picture. ended March 31, 2012, from the Sony developed in 2007 a 11-inch previous year. Sony Corporation and Panasonic model OLED TV, marking the first Panasonic’s sales declined 10% Corporation signed an agreement world’s one in the world. It also from 8,692.7 billion in FY 2011 to on June 25, 2012 to jointly develop produced a 25-inch OLED display 7,846.2 billion in FY 2012, ended the next generation OLED in 2011. March 31, 2012. (Organic-Light-Emitting Diode) Panasonic owns the unique tech-

OLED Monitor Overview 2012 This graph shows the accurate color repro- duction of OLED technology. With the permission of Sony Europe Limited

JETRO is a government-related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. Originally established in 1958 to promote Japanese exports abroad, JETRO’s core focus in the 21st century has shifted toward promoting foreign direct investment into Japan and helping small to medium size Japanese firms maximize their global export potential.

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