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MasterCard: Tokyo is Asia’s Leading Center of Commerce

Quite a bit has been swirling around Japan’s place in the world of business and finance over the past few months. It’s not easy to put it all in exact order, so we won’t try to hard, but here’s a slice of what’s going on:

• The Financial Times told us that Tokyo is losing ground as a financial center.
• The Cabinet office told us that Japan’s labor productivity is at 71% of US-levels, and around 60% in the service industries.
• In a much-maligned piece, the International Herald Tribune told us “Japanese companies embrace diversity.”
• IMD’s 2007 Competitiveness Ranking showed Japan slipping from #16 to #24, and being passed by China.
• Then, we picked up the rumor that “A ‘District’ for Foreign Businesspeople to be Built in Tokyo” back on May 5.
• In some good news, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Japan as the most innovative country in the world out of 82 surveyed.

And so on. Today, more feel-good news for Japan as a study released by MasterCard has officially declared Tokyo to be Asia’s leading center of commerce. Although, Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul - those supposed threats to Tokyo’s throne - also rank in the top 10, Tokyo came out at #1.

Why?

According to the report, Tokyo’s strong points include its “foreign currency government bond rating, ease in dealing with licences, a stable inflation rate, high level of health, safety and other services, overall quality of life, aviation connectivity, and number of patent applications.”

Not to mention, Tokyo follows New York and London and ranks third globally in total volume of equities traded, while ranking fourth in the number of commodities contracts traded. Of course, The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second-largest bourse in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange.

Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo’s Governor and strong proponent of bringing the 2016 Olympic Games back to the city, had this to say:

I believe that these results were achieved by Tokyo possessing, among a spectrum of commercial attractions, an advanced urban infrastructure, and one of the safest and most secure living environments in the world.

Globally, Tokyo ranked third behind London and New York. The top ten was rounded out by Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore, Frankfurt, Paris, Seoul and Los Angeles.

Can you feel the next edition of BizCast Japan coming on? Because that’s what’s happening.

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