ICT Trade Between Germany and Japan Shows Significant Rise

German Digital Association Bitcom unveiled ahead of the official start of CeBIT that Japan regains importance in digital technology trade with Germany. The import of ICT commodities into Germany has increased by 11 percent to 1.5 billion euro. The import has risen by 33 percent in the last three years, and Germany now ranks among the ten most important import markets.

At the same time, the export of German ICT products to Japan is progressing positively as well. The trade volume increased by 5 percent to 284 million Euros in 2016 and has grown by 20 percent in the three-year period. As this years´ Partner Country of CeBIT, Japan moves the keyword "Society 5.0" into the focus.

"With the demographic change, the Japanese society is 20 years ahead of us. Japan is leading the development of robots, for instance for the elder and nursing care, and we can learn from these experiences. Investments in automation and digitization not only secure the growth and prosperity of tomorrow but rather also allow a social participation and a dignified life in an aging society," Bitkom president Thorsten Dirks stated.

In the global ranking of leading high-tech companies, Japan competes as a heavyweight. Of the 100 most lucrative companies in nine segments, one in four is based in Japan. Only the US has more global industry leaders, while German and European companies are underrepresented.

"Japan is a pioneer in automation and digitization, even though the investments decreased recently," says Dirks. The per-head spending for information technology and telecommunication decreased in 2016, according to calculations of the European IT Observatory (EITO), by 1 percent to 1.492 Euros. Germany recorded a plus of 1 percent to 1,565 Euros. "In the economic structure, Japan and Germany have many parallels, for instance, the strong automotive, machine engineering, and electrical engineering industry. Japan is an economic and social future lab, whose development we need to follow closely," Dirks said.

The German ICT economy reports a stable growth. The sales are expected to increase in 2017 by 1.3 percent to the total of 161.4 billion Euros. The industry will create 21,000 additional jobs, according to Bitkom expectations. That would lead to over one million employees in ICT. That will strengthen the role of those companies as the second largest industrial employer, closely behind machine engineering and in front of other leading sectors like the automotive or the chemical industry.