Survey of Trends in Business Activities of Foreign Affiliates

Summary of Trends on Foreign Affiliates (30th, 1997)

Enterprise Statistics Division, Research and Statistics Department,
and International Business Affairs Division, Industrial Policy Bureau

Highlights of "The 30th Survey of Trends in Business Activities of Foreign Affiliates in Japan"
(August 1997)

E-Mail:qqcebh@meti.go.jp

Main Points

1. The number of new foreign affiliates to Japan in a year reached a record high of 116 in 1995 FY.
2. They achieved higher profits and productivity than their Japanese counterparts. Manufacturing sectors of foreign affiliates improved their business performance, for example, attaining a record high in average sales.
3. In 1995 FY imports of foreign affiliates in Japan exceeded exports by 1.7 trillion yen.
4. The number of Asian-headqurtered affiliates in Japan has been increasing recently, especially in the last three years. However, their sales and ratio of current profits were at a lower level than North American and European affiliates.

The number and amount of capitalization of foreign affiliates by year

The change in sales per company

The change in the ratio of current profit to sales between foreign affiliates in Japan and Japanese companies

Productivity:Value added per employee

Foreign affiliates' balance of imports and exports

Foreign Affiliates Established in Japan

Ratio of Current Profit to Sales (by Regional Headquarters)

(Outline of the Survey)

• Survey Target:Enterprises in which foreign ownership is at least one-third which reported as of the end of March 1996 to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry under the provisions of the Exchange Control Law that they intended to invest or had invested in Japan.
• Survey Method:Questionnaire
• Period of the Survey:March 31, 1996 (or the closest account closing period)
• Valid Response Rate:number of enterprises surveyed :2,730;number responding:1,421;valid response rate:52.1%