Japan’s new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is to continue his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi’s efforts to increase foreign direct investment into the country, Osamu Watanabe, chairman and CEO of the Japan External Trade Organization, said at the Southeast United States-Japan Association conference in Orlando, Fla.

Japan’s trade organization, known as Jetro, is Japan’s main governmental body responsible for promoting foreign direct investment. It has six offices in the United States, including one at Peachtree Center in downtown Atlanta.

Mr. Watanabe began a panel discussion about investment opportunities in Japan, saying that Mr. Abe had announced plans to increase Japan’s foreign direct investment to 5 percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product by 2010.

According to Mr. Watanabe, foreign direct investment in Japan rose from 1.2 percent in 2001 to 2.2 percent in 2005 of GNP under Mr. Koizumi’s administration.

While praising the increase, he also said “it is clear there is much room for expansion yet,” citing foreign direct investment into the U.S. at 13 percent of GDP, at 33 percent of GDP in the U.K. and at 22.4 percent of GDP in Germany.

Mr. Watanabe added that the United States was the largest investor in Japan last year with 43.3 percent of the total amount of foreign investment compared to 36.6 percent in 2001.

Traditionally, he said, U.S. companies invested in manufacturing facilities in Japan, but now investments are increasingly in the finance and service sectors, including in research and development projects in the high-tech industry.

Jetro has announced that from April-September 2006 45 foreign companies have set up a business in Japan with the assistance of the agency’s services. Sixteen of these companies were from Europe, 15 from the Asia/Pacific region and 14 from North America.

Jetro also has announced that since the SEUS-Japan conference was held Oct. 22-24 three U.S. companies have opened offices in Japan.

They are Scala Inc., a Pennsylvania manufacturer of digital design software, which opened a wholly owned subsidiary in Tokyo that will be the center of its operations for Asia;

Clear Channel Outdoor Inc., an Arizona-based outdoor advertising company, which entered into a joint venture in Tokyo with Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and Giuliani Partners LLC, headed by former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who has teamed up with Forval Corp. to form a safety and security management consulting firm titled Giuliani Security and Safety Asia Inc.

Giuliani Partners also is to expand its business consulting work through Giuliani Compliance Japan that is to offer specialized consulting services in the fields of corporate governance and internal control.

Created in 1976, the Southeast U.S./Japan Association has a Japanese counterpart, the Japan/U.S. Southeast Association. The Japanese association’s membership includes business leaders and government officials. Membership in the Southeast U.S./Japan Association is open to residents of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

On a rotational basis, each of the seven states serves as “host and co-host state” for a 2-year-term and the conference alternates between the U.S. and Japan.

For more information, go to www.jetro.org or call (404) 681-0600.