Jorge Lasheras, President of CEJE, discusses the business relationships between Japan and Spain in ABC Empresa

Following the State visit of the King and Queen of Spain to Japan, the media has brought up the socioeconomic relationships between the two countries. Along these lines, the supplement ABC Empresa interviewed Jorge Lasheras, President of CEJE, to assess the challenges and opportunities that arise from Japan-Spain business relationships.

Lasheras stressed the perseverance necessary to export or invest in Japan. The president of CEJE points out that the Japanese have a “very different business mindset than we do, but it is an admirable difference if you stay invested. It is a difficult and demanding market, in which quality and respect for the client predominate, but the number of Spanish companies working there keeps growing.”

In 2016, Spain exported a little more than 2.4 billion and had a little less than 3.46 billion in purchases from Japan. In light of these numbers, Lasheras assures that even though “it makes sense that companies start to export to markets that they know better, such as Europe or Latin America, Japan is a highly profitable option in the long term.”

Joaquín Gay de Montellá, Vice President of CEOE, and Alfredo Bonet, International Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, have also shared their opinions in this article. Montellá ensures that “Spanish companies not only have to know manage in a cultural environment very different from their own, but they also have to position themselves in a very demanding and sophisticated market,” while Bonet states that the Japanese market “is now looking to promote domestic consumption, and Spanish companies who know how to position their products in the country can take advantage of this.”

You can read the full article in the online version of ABC Empresa.