The Kansai region, located in the center of Japan, has a huge market with a GDP of approximately $876 billion, and is home to global companies from sectors including aircraft and electric equipment, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.

The Kansai aircraft industry platform NEXT, is the cluster in this area that aims to build upon the growth of region’s industrial development.

The capital of Hyogo Prefecture, Kobe is one of Japan’s principal ports and grew during the period of Japan’s modernization. Kobe has a broad spectrum of industrial clusters from heavy industries and SMEs with outstanding technologies and expertise to locally based industries.

Many foreign-affiliated companies as well as research and manufacturing facilities belonging to a number of major Japanese companies in the aerospace industry are located in Hyogo Prefecture.

Japan is developping a green transformation plan, committing JPY 20 trillion ($150 billion) to drive the mobilization of JPY 150 trillion over the next decade. The initiative targets hydrogen, ammonia, synthetic methane, and synthetic fuels, with a focus on expanding into high-demand overseas markets. The government is also revising its Basic Hydrogen Strategy, aiming to increase hydrogen supply to approximately 12 million tons by 2040 – a sixfold increase.