Reassessing Our Strengths

Recent critical issues—such as the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising tensions between the United States and China, and abnormal weather patterns—are profoundly shaking our existing social and economic systems. These developments have heightened global uncertainty, and they are having various impacts on the social environment around us. We must therefore continue to watch these trends closely.

Meanwhile, here in Japan, we are seeing renewed tourist activity, including the resumption of inbound travel following the reclassification of COVID-19 under Category 5 and the return of summer festivals in Tohoku and Niigata. Little by little, everyday life is returning. Although the economic climate in our region varies by industry, it is generally experiencing a gradual recovery, and we must do our utmost to ensure this positive momentum continues.

Recognizing both macro- and micro-level challenges, our organization has formulated a three-year medium-term business plan for the period from 2023 to 2025, marking our third phase of initiatives to further revitalize the economies of Tohoku and Niigata.

The theme for this third phase is our “Challenge for Three SHINKA.” These three shinka comprise 深化 (shinka = deepening) our existing initiatives, 進化 (shinka = evolving) the inherent functions of an economic organization, and ultimately demonstrating our 真価 (shinka = true worth) through these efforts. We will pursue our activities with these three concepts in mind.

A key point in these initiatives is the importance of reassessing the functions and strengths that companies, local communities, and our own organization inherently possess. Across Tohoku and Niigata, we have numerous resources and potential, such as forward-looking science and technology projects along the Pacific coast; renewable energy, including offshore wind power along the Sea of Japan; abundant tourism assets across each prefecture; and agricultural and marine products acclaimed worldwide. We believe our role as an economic organization is to capitalize on these regional strengths to envision a hopeful future that inspires young people to consider their future livelihood and to work diligently to make that future a reality.

We ask all of you to once again lend your support to the role we aspire to fulfill, and we look forward to your continued cooperation and assistance.

General Inocorporated Association
Tohoku Economic Federation
Chairman, Jiro Masuko