Tokyo (SCCIJ) – A Switzerland-Japan Economic Forum with more than 180 participants has been held in Tokyo on the joint initiative of the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan, the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (SCCIJ) and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) from Lausanne, Switzerland. The conference at the Imperial Hotel titled “Japan + Switzerland: Partners for global competitiveness, innovation and a healthier future” focused on the topics of competitiveness through innovation and business opportunities of aging societies.
Innovation as competitiveness trigger
At his opening address, Mr. Jean-François Paroz, Ambassador of Switzerland to Japan, stressed industrial similarities between Japan and Switzerland. As examples, he named the export of chemicals and pharmaceuticals as well as both countries’ long traditions of watchmaking. Japan and Switzerland would focus on technological progress and innovation. “The question of how to strengthen competitiveness is a particularly pressing one,” Paroz said.
Switzerland-Japan Economic Forum
In the first keynote lecture of the economic forum, Mr. Mauro Dell’Ambrogio, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation in Switzerland, analyzed “innovation as a trigger for competitiveness”. His introduction was followed by a panel discussion under the moderation of Mr. Naoshi Takatsu, Managing Partner North East Asia, IMD.
Panel 1 with moderator Naoshi Takatsu (Managing Partner North East Asia, IMD); Wieland Noetzold (Executive Officer Corporate Management Europe, Sunstar); Mr. Ryuhei Maeda (former Japan Ambassador to Switzerland) and Mauro Dell’Ambrogio (State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation in Switzerland) (from left)
Challenge of globalization
Mr. Wieland Noetzold, Executive Officer Corporate Management Europe, represented the Japanese company Sunstar which moved its global headquarters to Switzerland since 2007. “The fact that you have your office in Switzerland does not mean that you are automatically competitive”, he warned about a misconception of the move. The organization of the company also needed to be fully exposed to Switzerland, he explained.
Former Japan Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Ryuhei Maeda, reflected about the lessons he had learned during his stay in Switzerland. He described the main duty of a diplomat as to undertake every effort to comprehend the other country. “The more I learned about Switzerland, the more I discovered how wonderful it is, and the more I learned, the more I loved the country”, he described his experience.
Panel 2 with Florian Kohlbacher (The Economist Group); Professor Sabine Misoch (Head of the Interdisciplinary Competence Centre for Aging (IKOA) at the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen); Yuka Shimada (HR Director of Unilever Japan); Professor Takanori Shibata (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) and moderator Michael Mroczek (SCCIJ President) (from left)
Business opportunities of aging
The second keynote lecture of the forum about the business opportunities of aging was presented by Mr. Florian Kohlbacher of the Economist Group, a renowned expert on global business and consumer trends. His main argument was that although many managers have recognized the opportunities offered by the so-called “silver business”, only few companies would take action. One cause could be that society has a rather ambivalent attitude towards aging, he reasoned. A second cause may be that the silver market is not homogeneous.
At the panel discussion moderated by SCCIJ President Mr. Michael Mroczek, Ms. Yuka Shimada, HR Director of Unilever Japan, said that her company would view the aging society as a big opportunity. ”The Gen S (i.e. Generation Silver) has the purchasing power, and it will be a new category to sell new products to”, she said. The current policy of retirement at the age of 60 or 65 would be ridiculous. “We want to abolish the internal rule because I do not believe that certain professional abilities are gone with a certain age,” she explained her thinking.
In her contribution to the discussion, Professor Sabine Misoch, Head of the Interdisciplinary Competence Centre for Aging (IKOA) at the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen, put forward the question how elderly people beyond the age of 65 years could be integrated into the workforce. It would not be the best decision to throw away their experience, she also pleaded for a higher pension age. In addition, the fact of retirement would be very difficult to adapt to because work is part of one’s identity in Switzerland. “New working models might be a good idea because 65-year-old people are not physically old and cognitively in a very good shape”, she emphasized.
Panel participant Professor Takanori Shibata and inventor of the pet seal robot Paro (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology)
Pet robot for therapy
Professor Takanori Shibata moved the audience strongly with the video of an old dementia patient whose shouting was calmed within seconds when he came in contact with the Japanese pet seal robot Paro. Shibata, an electronic and mechanical engineer at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) who also did some research at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Zurich, is the inventor of the robot seal.
He applied the concept of animal assisted therapy by developing the robot pet Paro which is now being used in more than 30 countries including Switzerland. The robot can lessen anxiety, pain, depression and stress of dementia and other patients and thus reduces the burden of care. Shibata’s contribution to the panel reminded the audience that even after retirement, society has the duty to make life easier and better for its elderly population.
Text: Martin Fritz for SCCIJ; Photos: Embassy of Switzerland/ © Sakurako Kuroda
