Business leaders and government officials from the Southeast United States and Japan will meet in Nashville later this year.
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced in a release that the 48th annual meeting between the Southeast U.S.(SEUS)/Japan Association and its Asian nation counterpart, the Japan-U.S. Southeast Association, will be held on Oct. 25-27.
Tennessee last hosted the meeting, which rotates between Japan and sites located in Southeastern states, in 2010.
Japan is Tennessee’s top partner for foreign direct investment (FDI), with more than $21 billion in capital and about 210 businesses involving 50,000 jobs across the state, according to the release. Tennessee’s longest-standing FDI office was established in Yokohama, Japan, in 1999.
The meeting will bring together business and government officials from the seven SEUS member states — Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina — for discussions on emerging technology, supply chain resilience and the Southeast’s role in the automotive and clean energy sectors.
Former Gov. Bill Haslam will serve as meeting chairman in addition to Japanese joint co-chairs Bridgestone Corp. Global CEO Yasuhiro Morita and Representative Executive Officer Masaaki Tsuya.
Tsuya was previously Bridgestone global CEO from 2012 to 2020 and currently serves as the Japan-U.S. Southeast Association chairman.
Bridgestone is in its fifth year as the Japan-USSE co-chair company for the annual meeting. The tire and rubber company’s western global headquarters is based in downtown Nashville, having moved from Akron, Ohio, in 1992. More than 1,700 employees now work in Bridgestone Tower, a SoBro high-rise located at the intersection of Fourth Avenue South and Demonbreun Street and to which the company moved in 2017.
Bridgestone employs more than 3,800 Tennesseans in manufacturing, sales and operations, according to the release. Across the Southeast association member states, the company employs more than 14,200 people.
“It is a distinct honor to serve as joint co-chair of this significant meeting in Nashville, a city that feels like a second home to Bridgestone,” Morita said in a release. “As we move toward a future of sustainable mobility and innovation, the partnership between Japan and the Southeast U.S. remains vital. I look forward to working alongside former Gov. Haslam and Mr. Tsuya as we welcome leaders from both sides of the Pacific to discuss how we can drive shared prosperity and growth for the next 50 years.”
Gov. Bill Lee said in the release that Tennessee has a strong relationship with Japan in both values and economic partnership, adding that Japanese companies have been a part of Tennessee’s success in advanced manufacturing and workforce development.
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner and Deputy Gov. Stuart McWhorter said supporting the state’s Japanese partners “is central to our mission of attracting investment and creating high-quality jobs, and we look forward to building upon these relationships to unlock new opportunities for continued collaboration and economic growth.”
The Consul General of Japan in Nashville, Shinji Watanabe, also stated that he hopes the meeting generates momentum for collaboration between the U.S. and Japan for further economic growth.