OREANDA-NEWS. March 25, 2014. The delegation of Estonian entrepreneurs accompanied president Toomas Hendrik Ilves on his visit to Japan and returned with several useful business contacts. The visit of the business delegation was arranged and managed by the Estonian Investment Agency (part of Enterprise Estonia).

During the visit several meetings between entrepreneurs took place. For example, meetings were held with the biggest tire manufacturer in the world, Bridgestone, Softbank, one of the leading IT-enterprises in Japan, FutureArchitect, and Mitsubishi Motors.

David O’Brock, chairman of the board of one of the biggest exporters to Japan, Molycorp Silmet Ltd., said that many valuable contacts were made. "This visit opened the eyes of many people to the nature of co-operation happening between Estonia and Japan and how successful it is. It was nice to see how Japanese companies and officials accepted Estonian entrepreneurs and president in such a welcoming manner. Meanwhile we cannot assume that one trip will result in a big contract, especially with Japan, where the process from a handshake to a contract can be very long," said O'Brock.

According to the chairman of the board of Viru Keemia Grupp (VKG), Priit Rohumaa, VKG has done cooperation with Japanese companies for years, which has resulted in Estonian oil shale products being used for example in Lexus and Mitsubishi cars. "Our interest is not only in continuing the cooperation, we also aim to reinforce our position and from that perspective the visit was a great success. I believe that even though the Japanese market sets high requirements to product, the chances of Estonian oil shale industry are still high," Rohumaa added.

The Vice Rector of Tallinn University of Technology (TUT), Tea Varrak, and docent Innar Liiv met up with current partners of the University from Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. „We decided to continue our cooperation in the field of data research and to expand the current range of cooperation. We were also proud to be acknowledged by the president of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation during his meeting with the prime minister of Japan. It might just be that next prize trips for award winning students will take place to Tokyo instead of Silicon Valley or at least alongside with it," commented Varrak.

Members of business delegation were Aleksander Reitsakas (Aktors LLC), David O'Brock (Molycorp Silmet Ltd.), DanBogdanov (Cybernetica Ltd.), Indrek Kaing (Reklaamilahenduse LLC), Tea Varrak and Innar Liiv (Talinn University of Technology), Siim Kabrits (BerryGroup LLC), SonnyAswani (TolaramGroup), Eva Maran (Pravi Investeeringud LLC), Tonu Hein (Rakvere Smart House Competence Centre), Priit Rohumaa (Viru Keemia Grupp Ltd.), Martin Talvari (Startup Sauna), ReimoHammerberg (BartoTours LLC), Raul Allikivi (Estasia LLC), representative of Enterprise Estonia in Japan, KosakuYamaguchi, Kristi Tiivas and Krista Mihkelsaar from the Estonian Investment Agency.