In recent decades, Japan’s accelerating external globalisation has netted it strong growth and closer economic ties with Asia’s fastest-growing markets. Last year, Japan’s annual outward FDI flows rose to USD 161.56 billion, according to Statista, up 10.7% year-over-year, whilst between 2000-2019, FDI income from Japanese firms overseas soared from JPY 1.8 trillion to JPY 14.4 trillion, according to the Bank of Japan. On the flip side, Japan’s world-leading domestic infrastructure and government incentives for new R&D – including fast-tracked patent examinations – have made it a business hub for overseas firms.
Since the 1980s, Japan has dominated the
