President’s New Year Message in 2015
<<< My wishes for the new year>>>
Mr. Kinoshita, President
I wish you a happy new year.
This is the 11th year of our NPO. I greatly appreciate strong support which has been given us by all of you.
150 years ago, in the 1st year of the Keio era Yokosuka Iron Mill started to be constructed with deep and wide study as Japan’s first modern industry. The mill was constructed with equipment and engineers from Europe in a form of our country’s first industrial association with overseas. It is said that such innovativeness existing in Yokosuka under the changing circumstance in the end of the Edo era influenced decision on transferring the capital from Kyoto to Tokyo in the 4th year of the Keio era. It reminds us of two busts at Verny Park.
Although our economy is expected to become better this year, shrinking domestic economy seems to be a general trend. Manufacturing industries continue to seek market in overseas. For small and medium-sized businesses the business environment is becoming more severe due to ongoing Yen depreciation.
Under such circumstances we are going to make an effort to further strengthen relation with our cooperate members. We support them in not only the following major items,
- Planning various things including overseas marketing.
- Acquiring accreditation of and registering management systems like ISO, CSR, etc.
- Training employees and business successors.
but also in various needs and requirements, helping them to make their businesses solid and sustainable. Besides we will make our relation with other bodies closer.
Print of the pheasant’s-eye
We are having opportunity once every two months where members of both corporate and individual share their experience and views. Coordination among members is seen to be getting better gradually.
On the other hand, coordination among industry, government and academia is getting some results with activities performed in the past 10 years. They are being entrusted cooperative business by Yokosuka City, Yokohama City University, etc. and beginning activities together with Kanazawa-ku, etc. of Yokohama City. There is a plan to do some new work in Miura City, too.
Environmental change creates business opportunities as we have seen. Taking such an opportunity I wish we would steadily develop our activities as our pioneers did.
This is the year of the sheep in the twelve horary signs which lives in flock and the word of “cluster”, part of our NPO name, means flock, too. The year of the sheep is the first time for our NPO since its foundation. We are going to make this year to be a year to strengthen the ties of our membership in the same way as the sheep.
