The Japan Ministry of Economy Trade and Investment completes the Japan SEA report defining the required digital tools to trigger economic expansion

GCEL met with officials from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Investment (METI) on January 15, 2018 in Tokyo to complete the Japan Shipment Efficiency Assessment (SEA) report which outlines how the digitization of Japan’s global value chains can contribute to achieving national strategic economic objectives.

The report’s findings revealed that with the use of new digital tools, Japan can increase trade efficiency and reduce annual domestic and international trade costs by USD 119.6 billion, increase trade by USD 164 billion, grow GDP by 8.1%, and generate more than 1.1 million jobs by 2030. By using new digital tools to de-risk doing business and reduce trade costs, Japan can also increase its exports by investing in the economies of the middle income countries (MIC) and low income countries (LIC) towards building their purchasing power.  For every 1% increase in the purchasing power of MIC/LIC, Japan can increase its exports to those countries by USD 10.4 billion. Furthermore, the report indicated that 90.5% do not have an integrated system and 94.5% have commonly agreed on the digital tools needed to be more competitive.