A Reversal of Roles as Ailing Japanese Seek Investment
經濟衰退導致角色逆轉 日本尋求外資
By Hiroko Tabuchi

AIZU-WAKAMATSU, Japan – Mayor Shohei Muroi knows it is hard to get new companies to invest in this struggling industrial city just 95 kilometers from Japan’s most notorious nuclear plant.
會津若松市距離日本最惡名昭彰的福島核電廠只有95公里，市長室井照平知道，要吸引外國企業前來這個掙扎中的工業城市投資很難。

So in September, Mr. Muroi did the unthinkable. He flew to China to ask a fast-growing maker of heavy machinery to set up shop in his town. It was a stark role reversal in a nation more accustomed to sending factory jobs to China.
去年九月，室井照平做了一件令人不可思議的事。他飛往中國大陸，力邀當地一家成長快速的重機械製造商前來會津若松市設廠。對比較習於向中國大陸輸出工廠就業機會的日本而言，這是強烈的角色逆轉。

“We’ve come to a point in Japan where we can no longer grow without outside help,” Mr. Muroi said. “Whether you are based in China or America, we want you to please come do business in Aizu-Wakamatsu.”
室井說：「日本已經陷入如無外界協助即無法成長的困境。無論你們的基地是在中國還是美國，我們都要拜託你們到會津若松市來做生意。」

A year after natural and nuclear catastrophes forced change on Japan’s economy, which was already listless from years of downsizing, the country is finding it must do what it has long resisted: welcome foreign manufacturers.
311強震、海嘯及核子災變發生之前，日本經濟早已陷入長期衰退，而這些災變更導致日本經濟出現重大改變，一年後的今天日本發現，日本必須做一件一向抗拒的事：歡迎外國製造廠商進駐日本。

This also points to a regional power shift. A rapidly growing amount of foreign capital comes from China, which last year surpassed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy.
這同時說明了這個區域裡權力轉移的趨勢。來自中國大陸的資金快速增加。去年，中國大陸超越日本，躍居舉世第二大經濟體。

Other recent Chinese manufacturing deals with Japan include plans for a plastics plant in Tottori and a heavy machinery factory in Kochi.
中國大陸製造業最近與日本簽署的其他協議還包括，在鳥取縣興建一座塑膠工廠，以及在高知縣設立一座重機械工廠。

Direct investment from China to Japan jumped twentyfold in four years, to $314 million in 2010, according to Japan’s Finance Ministry – though as an overall percentage of investment into Japan, money from China remains small.
日本財務省的數據顯示，在到2010年為止的四年期間，中國大陸對日直接投資的金額激增了20倍，於2010年達到3.14億美元。不過，中國大陸對日投資在各國對日投資總額中所占的比例，仍然不大。

“The Chinese are starting to look like saviors,” said Kotaro Masuda, an economist at the government-affiliated Institute for International Trade and Investment in Tokyo.
東京官方機構「國際貿易投資研究所」經濟學家增田耕太郎說：「中國人看起來已經開始像救星了。」

Japan wants to double the flow of foreign direct investment into the country in the next decade. A special focus is on the three prefectures most affected by the March 2011 disasters: Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, where Aizu-Wakamatsu is.
日本希望能在未來10年間使外國直接投資的總額提高一倍，而且特別著重在311震災中受創最重的福島、岩手、宮城三縣。會津若松市隸屬福島縣。

The new openness will require Japan to break decades of habits that have discouraged foreign investment here: strong regulations, high operating costs and tax rates, and weak government inducements – not to mention overt xenophobia.
吸引外資的開放政策若想奏效，日本必須革除數十年來不利外資進入的一些積習，包括管理法規相當嚴格、經營成本與稅率偏高，以及政府提供的誘因不夠強烈，非常明顯的排外心態更不在話下。

Japan’s inflow of direct foreign investments came to just 0.24 percent of its gross domestic product in 2009 – and even turned negative over all in the two years after that. Many of Japan’s own companies prefer to put their money into opportunities abroad rather than at home. Finance Ministry data shows that the net outbound investment from Japan reached 9.1 trillion yen ($113 billion) in 2011.
日本2009年吸引的直接外資僅占其國內生產毛額（GDP）的0.24%，此後二年還轉為負數。許多日本企業寧可把資金轉到海外尋找商機，而不是留在國內。日本財務省的數據顯示，日本去年外移的資金淨總額高達9.1兆日圓（1130億美元）。

“Everybody is fretting that Japanese companies are moving overseas. If that’s the case, Japan should balance that out by opening up more to more foreign investment,” said Kyoji Fukao, an economics professor at Hitotsubashi University.
一橋大學經濟學教授深尾京司說：「人人都在為日本企業外移的現象煩惱。果真如此，日本政府必須設法予以平衡，擴大對外資開放是具體方法。」

The Chinese are also buying struggling Japanese companies. Last year, the washing machine and refrigerator business of Sanyo Electric was bought by Haier, a Chinese company. In 2011, for the first time on record, the number of mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies in Japan exceeded those by American businesses in the country.
中國的企業也已經開始購併陷入困境的日本企業。去年，中國大陸的海爾集團買下三洋電機的洗衣機及冰箱部門。去年，中國企業購併日本企業的件數首次超越美國。

For Chinese companies, learning to appeal to the demands of finicky Japanese customers could help also refine goods and services for their domestic economy – and make them more globally competitive.
對中國大陸的企業而言，學習如何滿足日本人的挑剔習慣也有助於提升中國國內商品及服務的品質，進而提高本身的全球競爭力。

“Our aim is to build products that satisfy Japanese standards,” said Zoomlion’s chief executive, Zhan Chunxin.
中聯重工科技公司執行長詹純新說：「我們的目標是，製造符合日本標準的產品。」

The central government has designated districts in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures as “special disaster reconstruction zones” that offer incentives and tax breaks to new investors. The most generous subsidies could come in Fukushima, which has allocated 225 billion yen ($2.8 billion) to industry, including 30 billion yen for new companies. One company lured by the subsidies, Canadian Solar, is in talks to set up a solar panel factory in Miyagi or Fukushima.
日本政府已將岩手縣與宮城縣的指定區域劃為「特別災害重建區」，並為外資提供多種誘因及減稅優待。最慷慨的補助可能集中在福島縣：日本政府已經為當地產業編列2250億日圓（28億美元）的補助，其中包括針對新進駐企業的300億日圓。「加拿大太陽能公司」受到這項補助政策的吸引，目前正與日本當局磋商在宮城或福島興建一座太陽能板製造廠的事宜。

Regional cities like Aizu-Wakamatsu could be crucial to Japan’s effort to draw foreign investment, said Shojiro Nakamura, a consultant at Accenture, a global consulting company. Rent and other costs are cheaper in Aizu-Wakamatsu than Tokyo, and it has a skilled work force, Mr. Nakamura said.
全球科技顧問業者埃森哲公司的顧問中村彰二朗說，包括會津若松市在內的部分日本區域城市可能攸關日本吸引外資的成敗。他說，會津若松市租金與其他成本低於東京，而且擁有技術純熟的勞力。

But the longer-term challenge for Aizu-Wakamatsu, Mr. Nakamura said, is to create lasting employment that is not contingent on subsidies or cheap costs.
不過中村指出，會津若松市面臨的較長期挑戰是，如何創造不必仰賴補助或低廉成本的長期就業機會。

An initiative with the city, a local university and Accenture aims to make Aizu-Wakamatsu a center for research and development, a “smart city” that runs on renewable energy and supports high-tech jobs.
會津若松市政府，當地一所大學，以及埃森哲公司準備聯手推動一項方案，使會津若松市成為研發中心，一座使用再生能源並提供高科技就業機會的「智慧城」。

Investment from China is fine, Mr. Nakamura said, “but ultimately, we want to be more like Silicon Valley.”
中村說，中國企業前來投資日本當然歡迎，「然而我們追求的終極目標是變得像矽谷一樣」。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/business/global/japan-looks-beyond-its-borders-for-investors.html

2012-03-27聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報八版上