Hoping to boost foreign direct investment in Japan, the government has resorted to a weapon that has proved to be quite powerful at home: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
The government said Thursday it will launch a TV-based advertisement to woo foreign investors to Japan. The one-minute commercials will air on CNBC and CNN Headline News across the United States, and on BBC World and CNN International in Europe, between March 8 and 26.
In the commercial, Koizumi, speaking English, pitches Japan to foreign investors.
"We have all you need for success and we welcome your business," Koizumi says in the commercial, shown to reporters during a news conference. "Why don't you join us?"
While popular at home, it is uncertain whether Koizumi will have the same appeal in the United States and Europe.
A voice-over during the commercial praises Japan's "thriving consumer section," even though Japan has spent the last decade trying to reignite consumer spending.
Also appearing in the commercial are Sir Deryck Maughan, chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup International, and Carlos Ghosn, president and chief executive officer of Nissan Motor Co.
"The consumer is sophisticated, and the market is open," Maughan says in the TV ad.
The 100 million yen promotion is part of Japan's five-year campaign to double direct foreign investment in Japan to 13.2 trillion yen in 2006 from 2001 levels, government officials said.