Tokyo turns up volume in foreign fintech talent hunt
Go to Tokyo?
With its shrinking population and its growing interest in fintech, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has turned to Accenture to support recruiting companies find the right stuff from abroad.
According to Japan’s health ministry, the nation’s population is expected to fall from 127 million to 88 million in 2065, dropping further to 51 million by 2115. With that kind of future looming, things need to change.
To address its ageing and declining workforce, Japan is striving to improve labour productivity and support advanced manufacturing. As part of this effort, TMG has been working to recruit companies to “boost Japan’s economic growth and international competitiveness”.
Therefore, Accenture will help TMG find foreign talent in such fields as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, internet of things (IoT), big data and asset management.
TMG will step up its efforts through 2020 to attract tech firms to Tokyo, “encouraging high value operations” such as regional headquarters and R&D centres at the Special Zone for Asian Headquarters. An additional TMG project will seek to attract companies in the “fields of asset management and fintech” to the Special Zone and other locations. The overall goal for the two projects is recruitment of ten companies in each project, a total of 20 companies by March of 2018.
Accenture will support the projects, such as providing consultation and matchmaking with businesses in Tokyo. It will also establish points of contact, named “Access to Tokyo” within its offices in Paris, London and San Francisco. They will build relationships with local chambers of commerce, host seminars and promote Tokyo.
The Special Zone for Asian Headquarters encompasses regions around Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shinagawa/Tamachi, and Ikebukuro stations as well as central Tokyo and waterfront area and former Haneda Airport site. TMG says it offers deregulation, preferential tax treatment, and “generous packages” of fiscal and financial assistance.
