Japan's international economic relations

Japan is a prime example of a country that is very active in the international geographical division of labor. It is characterized by the development of all types of externally economic ties, and they largely determine its role in the world economy and ensure its economic security. But the meaning certain types such relationships have changed over time. At the first and second stages of the country's development, they were reduced mainly to foreign trade. But then Japan managed to win a fairly strong position in such activities as the export of capital, production, scientific, technical and other ties.

Let's try to characterize foreign trade Japan according to its three main indicators: turnover, structure and geographical distribution.

By foreign trade turnover(1225 billion dollars) modern Japan ranks fourth in the world after Germany, the United States and China. Its share in the world export of goods exceeds 5.5%, and in their world import - 4.5%. In terms of exports of services, it is second only to the United States, Germany and Great Britain, and in terms of their imports, it is second only to the United States and Germany. The country's trade balance traditionally has a positive balance: in 2006, the excess of exports over imports reached $ 70 billion. But at the same time, Japan is inferior to most countries in terms of the level of openness of its economy. Western Europe, since its export quota is only 14% of the total GDP.

Against the backdrop of a constant trend towards an increase in foreign trade turnover, its structure by no means remained unchanged. As already mentioned, the well-known journalist V.V. Ovchinnikov once compared the Japanese economy at the first stage of its development with a huge processing plant that imports almost all the necessary raw materials, and then, after processing, sends it to the world market already in the form finished products. It is not surprising that at this stage Japan became the world's largest importer of mineral raw materials and fuel and an exporter of products of ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, shipbuilding, and petrochemicals. Then, cars, consumer electronics began to play an increasing role in the structure of the country's exports, and even later - different kinds science-intensive products.

In the 1990s 3/4 of Japanese exports consisted of engineering products (cars, ships, televisions, cameras, computers, integrated circuits, optical and other devices), and the export of some industries reached 50–70% or more (Fig. 125). The rest of the exports were synthetic fibers, car tires, cast iron, steel, etc. As for imports, Japan was still highly dependent on the import of many types of fuel and raw materials (Fig. 125). Moreover, it turned out to be the world's largest buyer of some of them (hard coal, iron ore, non-ferrous metal ores). In terms of annual oil imports (more than 200 million tons), it was second only to the United States. Since then, this structure has undergone further changes. In 2006, the exports were dominated by vehicles (21%), machinery and electronics (17% each), followed by chemical and electrochemical goods, iron and steel, and office equipment. And in imports, oil remained in first place (18%), electronics (13%) - in second, agricultural products (9%) - in third; followed by chemical goods, machinery, electrical engineering, metals and their ores.

Geographic distribution Japan's foreign trade has a number of features that distinguish it from Western Europe and the United States. The first of these lies in elevated role in this trade of developing countries. This applies both to its exports and, to an even greater extent, to its imports, which is primarily due to the country's raw material needs. The second feature is the special foreign trade interests that Japan has in the Asia-Pacific region, where the bulk of its exports go and where the bulk of raw materials and food products come from.

Giving a more detailed description of the geographical distribution Japanese imports, we can add that the first place in it is occupied by the countries of East and Southeast Asia. Here, Japan's largest counterparties in terms of imports are China (21% of all imports, first place), the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan. From the countries of this subregion, Japan imports fuel and raw materials: oil, timber, as well as liquefied natural gas, ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, various products of tropical agriculture, textiles.

Rice. 125. Japanese imports and exports (early 1990s)

The second place in Japan's imports is occupied by the United States, and in particular the regions of their Pacific coast (California), from where they come as finished goods, and coal, cotton, wheat (Fig. 126), wood, phosphorites, pharmaceutical products, computers. In the 1990s the importance of the United States in Japanese imports has increased even more, primarily due to machinery and equipment. The share of foreign Europe is also quite large (10%, with Germany in the first place). The share of Southwest Asian countries peaked in 1980, which was associated with a sharp increase in oil prices, but then it decreased, although it is now 11% ( Saudi Arabia, UAE). But the share of Australia, on the contrary, is increasing all the time. This country now accounts for about 1/2 of all Japanese imports. hard coal and iron ore, a significant part of wool imports (Fig. 126). In Japan's imports from Russia, the first place belongs to wood, the second - to coal, the third - to fish and other marine products. Oil and LNG should be added to this list.

Approximately the same features are characteristic of the geographical distribution. Japanese exports. If we consider these exports by region, then East Asia, consisting of China, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong (35%), is in first place, North America is in second (23%), foreign Europe is in third (15%) and fourth - Southeast Asia (8%). If we consider it for other countries, then the leading three will include the United States, China and the Republic of Korea. But in general, Japanese industrial exports cover all major regions of the world. First of all, this applies to the export of engineering products.

Rice. 126. Japanese imports of raw materials, fuel and food

Of the other forms of foreign economic ties, perhaps the most important in Japan is export of capital. It is directly related to the growth of Japan's gold and foreign exchange reserves (until recently the first, and now the second place in the world after China - $ 865 billion in 2006), the concentration of the largest banks in the world, which made the Land of the Rising Sun truly the "land of the rising yen" . Both the state and monopolies participate in the export of capital from Japan. It is produced mainly in the form of loan capital - the so-called yen-loans provided on favorable terms, and various grants, but also in the form of foreign direct investment. In the mid 1980s. on overall dimensions export of capital, Japan came out on top in the world and held it for a long time. But after the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. the volume of these exports has decreased significantly.

From a geographical point of view, it is of greatest interest to consider precisely Japanese foreign direct investment. They began back in the 1970s, but their volume was then insignificant. Japanese TNCs invested mainly in enterprises for the extraction of raw materials and for the marketing of their products. But by the end of the 1980s. Japan has become one of the world's largest exporters of foreign direct investment, and in the second half of the 1990s. according to this indicator reached the level of 23–26 billion dollars per year. As a result, in 2006, the total amount of direct investments accumulated abroad amounted to $460 billion, which ranks tenth in the world according to this indicator.

At the same time, the geography of investments also changed. Until the mid 1980s. they were sent mainly to the neighboring countries of East and Southeast Asia (Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore), but then their exports to the “second wave” NIS increased, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It has also increased significantly in the USA, Western Europe, and Latin America. In the late 1990s Of Japan's total foreign direct investment, more than 40% went to the United States, 25% to other Asian countries, 15% to Western Europe, and about 10% to Latin America. It is important to note that now the bulk of foreign direct investment is no longer directed to the mining industry, as was the case in the 1970s, but to the “top floors” industry and the non-manufacturing sector.

It can be added to the above that Japan leads the world in terms of the amount of financial assistance provided to other countries annually (more than 10 billion dollars). For many of them, it has become the main donor country. Examples include the countries of Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines), Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile), and the CIS countries (Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan). Japan also allocates significant funds to the fund of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The growth of foreign direct investment, in turn, contributed to the emergence foreign production as a kind of "second economy" of Japan. In the late 1990s the share of such production in the total output of the country has already reached 1 / 4 . And its geography is determined by three main regions.

Firstly, these are the new industrial countries of Asia (the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, as well as the NIS of the "second wave"), where Japanese TNCs went back in the 1980s. began to transfer part of their enterprises for the production of consumer electronics, thereby creating an opportunity for enterprises in their country to switch to the production of more complex and expensive high-tech products. Secondly, this is Western Europe and the USA, where Japan began to create, first of all, automobile plants (first assembly, "screwdriver", and then, so to speak, a complete automobile cycle), but also enterprises of some high-tech industries. Figure 127 provides a visual representation of the network of such enterprises in Western European countries. And in the USA, automobile plants built by subsidiaries of Japanese companies form a quite distinct “corridor” stretching from the border with Canada to Florida, with the main clusters in the states of Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky. .

Since the 1980s Japan is increasingly involved in scientific and technical cooperation. The main form of its participation in it is large-scale long-term programs. An example is the national program "Human Frontiers". Japan imports all technologies from the developed countries of the West, and exports them approximately equally to developed and developing countries.

Trade turnover between Russia and Japan in the 1990s was at the level of 3.5–4.5 billion dollars a year, which was 40 times less than the trade turnover between Japan and the United States and 20 times less than the trade turnover between Japan and China. Russian exports to Japan are purely raw material in nature and consist of metals, timber and forest products, coal with the addition of some food products. And in Russian imports from Japan, 3/4 fall on engineering products. In particular, in the Russian market, Japan firmly holds an important place in the sale of electrical household appliances, especially such well-known companies as Sony and Panasonic. In addition, Russia and Japan have concluded several general agreements related to the attraction of Japanese capital in the development of coal, oil (Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2), timber and other resources of the Russian Far East and Transbaikalia, as well as the reconstruction of offshore ports (Vostochny, Vanino). Some experts believe that in the future, the share of machinery and chemical products, as well as licenses and know-how, may well increase in Russian exports to Japan.

Rice. 127. Japanese industrial enterprises in Western Europe (by the early 1990s)

Throughout Japan, there are practically no natural resources, so the country is forced to import raw materials, energy resources, as well as numerous goods from foreign countries. The Japanese import structure is represented by machinery and equipment, various chemical products, products and raw materials.

In the country, only about 15% of the land is used for agricultural work, which explains the fact that Japan imports half of the grain and fodder crops, excluding rice. The country is one of the world's leading wheat importers. And in 2014 it is going to exceed these purchases by another 4 million tons.

A significant part of the meat consumed by the Japanese is also imported, mainly beef.

Imported raw materials are represented by natural fuel. Japan's oil is supplied mainly by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Foreign trade deficit

Despite large volumes of exports, Japan has had a foreign trade deficit for the third year in a row. This is because the country has significantly increased energy imports. This is due to the closure of nuclear power units after the explosion at Fukushima in 2011, as well as natural disasters - a large-scale earthquake and tsunami.

Previously, nuclear power plants accounted for 30% of electricity generation. The high dependence on oil and gas supplies led to the fact that their imports increased by 18% - to the amount of 133 billion dollars. Purchases of liquefied natural gas accounted for a third of its world production. Gas is used for thermal power plants, as well as fuel for cars. Today, the country's imports exceed exports.

In order to reduce fuel purchases, Japan is going to resume the work of 10 power units of nuclear power plants.

In addition to energy, Japan in 2013 increased imports by 20%, as well as purchases of wood. The country has deposits of minerals, but is poor in metals. 100% of copper, aluminum and iron ore are imported from abroad.

In the first place in Japan's imports are the states of Southeast Asia, the countries of the European Union, the share of imports of goods from Australia and Russia is increasing. But the United States has been Japan's main trading partner for many years - about 30% of Japanese exports are sold on the American market and 20% of imports are provided.

Japanese trade is a type of value-added trade. It consists of Japan's imports of raw materials and exports of manufactured goods. During the existence of the Japanese Empire, the country mainly imported raw materials for the textile industry, and exported textile goods. Trade was focused on light industry items. After World War II, Japan's main imports were fuel, and exports were engineering products, automobiles, high-precision equipment, and semiconductors. Trade was reoriented to heavy goods and the chemical industry.

As a result of the rapid economic development in the second half of the 20th century, Japan occupied one of the leading places in international economic relations. In the early 1990s, it came in second place in the world in terms of total foreign direct investment (15% of the global volume). The leading form of economic relations was foreign trade. In 1994-95 In terms of exports, Japan was second only to the United States and Germany, it accounted for 9-10% of world exports.

By the size of the export quota, it can be classified as a semi-open economy. 10-13% of GDP is sold abroad. A number of industries are almost entirely export-oriented. Since 1980, the country has had a permanent positive trade balance - sales exceed purchases. Because of this, trade conflicts have repeatedly erupted between Japan and the United States. In the 1990s, Japanese manufacturing enterprises moved a significant part of their factories to Asian countries. The products of these enterprises are partially imported to Japan.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the main Japanese imports were oil, liquefied natural gas, textile goods, simple microcircuits, computers, fish, and seafood. The main exports were automobiles, complex circuits, steel, chemical and machine-building products. As of 2010, the amount of goods imported and exported was about 1.402 trillion US dollars.

In 2008-2009, the trade surplus increased 6 times: in September 2008 it was 90 billion yen ($1 billion) in September 2009 - 529.6 billion yen ($5.7 billion). Compared to September 2008, in 2009 the surplus in trade with Russia turned into a deficit and amounted to 52.65 billion yen ($580 million).

As of 2010, the amount of goods for export amounted to 765.2 billion US dollars. The main partners of Japan in 2009 were: China - share in exports 18.88%, USA - 16.42%, Republic of Korea - 8.13%, Taiwan - 6.27%, Hong Kong - 5.49%. As of 2010, the amount of goods for import was 636.8 billion US dollars. The main partners of Japan in 2009 were: China - share in imports 22.2%, USA - 10.96%, Australia - 6.29%, Saudi Arabia - 5.29%, UAE - 4.12%, Republic of Korea - 3.98%, Indonesia - 3.95%.

Due to a strong earthquake in March 2011, exports from Japan temporarily decreased while imports increased. However, by the end of 2011, Japan almost completely restored its position in the world market.

Development and Structure of Japan's Foreign Trade

Over the past 50 years, the physical volume of Japan's exports has increased by more than 70 times, its pace was almost twice the growth of world exports.

The success of Japanese companies in the world markets is based on the competitiveness of products, which is formed due to high quality, latest technology, personnel policy, the authority of the company. Japanese firms are known for their effectively developed system of comprehensive and consistent control and management of product quality, which is primarily related to the nature of the organization of production. Rhythm and flexibility of the production process, its ability to readjust and produce new products, deliveries of components and raw materials just in time significantly increase the quality of products and the efficiency of enterprises. The growth in the level of automation and robotization, the use of equipment quality control systems, the high level of technological limits regulation also make it possible to significantly improve the quality of manufactured goods. The principle of autonomization of production involves the release of the final product with full quality control and guarantees of defectlessness.

One of the methods of competitive struggle of Japanese firms is the rapid change of models. Their product development period is shorter than in the US.

Despite the importance of the above factors of the high competitiveness of Japanese goods in world markets, it should be borne in mind that the cost of labor per unit of output in Japan was lower than in the United States and a number of other industrialized countries. The cost component compensated for the lag of Japanese companies in one of the most important factors of competitiveness - labor productivity. According to some Japanese research organizations, Japan is 1/3 behind the United States in terms of labor productivity in the manufacturing industry. The gap in this indicator has narrowed (1975 - 50%), but remains significant. The lag in labor productivity is largely related to the strategy a large number Japanese firms that prioritize not profits, but their market share. The general state of affairs is also influenced by the fact that labor productivity in small and medium-sized enterprises is significantly inferior to the indicators of large ones, amounting to 40% of the level large enterprises. This holds back the overall performance of the entire industry. A high level of labor productivity has been achieved in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and the chemical industry, where it significantly exceeds American figures. All other industries are lagging behind, even such as automotive and electrical engineering, where Japanese companies have strong competitiveness. There, the productivity level is 78 and 85% of the US.

Japan for a long time occupied a leading position in terms of the competitiveness of its products in world markets. As a result of the weakening of the price factor, it dropped to third place in 1993 after Singapore and the United States. There was a significant increase in the cost of labor from about 60% in the late 1980s to 70% of value added in 1994 (45% in 1960).

In the post-war period, the structure of exports underwent significant changes. Until the 1960s, the predominant place in it was occupied by consumer goods: radios, televisions, textiles. Then the leading positions were occupied by products of ferrous metallurgy, ships, cars - over 60% of exports. The 1980s saw a new shift in the structure of Japanese exports. With the increase in the share of automobiles and household electrical appliances, capital exports began to take the lead. The share of products of general mechanical engineering (13.9 and 24.1%), electrical engineering (9.9 and 25.6%), scientific equipment, optics (3.7 and 4.5% for 1980-1995) increased significantly.

For certain types of products, Japanese companies account for a significant part of the export deliveries in the world: semiconductors - 50%, cars- 22, office and telecommunications equipment - 22.6, steel - 17.4%. The transformation of Japan into one of the world's major exporters of engineering products and science-intensive products was the result of its industrial and scientific and technological development.

The structure of imports reflects the processes of international specialization of industry, the internationalization of the economy and the poverty of the domestic mineral base. Japan is distinguished by the lowest degree of self-sufficiency in raw materials and fuel among industrialized countries, the country is almost completely dependent on the import of many types of mineral and agricultural raw materials. For many types of mineral raw materials, it is a major buyer on world markets. It accounts for over 30% of world imports of iron ore, over 19% of non-ferrous metal ores, coal, cotton and wool.

At the first stages of economic development, the structure of production predetermined Japan's great dependence on developing countries - about half of its exports and over 40% of imports. Southeast Asia and the countries of the Persian Gulf are still the main market for the sale and supply of energy raw materials. In recent decades, deliveries of ore and chemical raw materials have been localized in industrialized countries - Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

An important feature of the geographical structure of foreign trade relations is their concentration on the United States. So far, 29% of Japanese exports are realized in the American market and 22% of imports are provided. In turn, Japan accounts for over 11% of US exports, including almost 20% of agricultural sales.

Japan is the main trading partner of a number of countries in East and Southeast Asia. It provides Indonesia with 37% of its exports and 24% of its imports, for Malaysia - 26% of its imports and 16% of its exports, for Singapore - 21% of its imports and 17% of its exports, for South Korea - 26% of its imports. Japan is also the main export and import market of the PRC (15-16%).

Trade turnover is reduced to a huge positive balance, which increased 6 times in 1981-1995. and exceeded 130 billion dollars. 40% of its volume is formed in trade with the United States. A positive balance develops with all regions except for the countries of the Middle East and in the 1990s - with Eastern Europe. Trade relations with industrial developed countries accompanied by outbreaks of trade wars, pressure on Japan, the establishment of "voluntary restrictions" on its exports. The United States is especially successful in this.

technology exchange

Since the 1980s, Japan has been making efforts to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation in science and technology. Multilateral scientific and technical ties are based on the implementation of international research projects. In 1986, Japan put forward a large-scale program called "Human Frontiers", which the Japanese themselves compare with the American "SDI" and the European "Eureka". to secure a leading position in the most promising areas of scientific and technical progress, in particular the mechanism of living organisms, proceeding from the fact that this direction will become a key factor in the creation of fundamentally new materials, mechanisms and technologies capable of overcoming the currently intractable problems of the energy of natural resources, harmonious human relations and new technological means The program is designed for 20 years, during which it is supposed to spend 6-7 billion dollars, half of them at the expense of Japan.

There have been significant changes in the country's technological balance of payments. From the 1970s, exports of Japanese technology began to increase. True, Japan's place in technology trade contrasted sharply with the exchange of marketable products. Until 1992, technology payments exceeded exports. At the same time, the volume of Japanese receipts (3-3.6 billion dollars) was 6-7 times inferior to the American one. In terms of the cost of technological imports, Japan surpasses the leading Western European countries. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the overall deficit in the technological balance was largely determined by the legacy of previous periods, when the country was completely dependent on technology imports. This is due to the fact that the technological balance includes both receipts and payments under newly concluded contracts, as well as royalty payments under old contracts, which can cover a period of up to 10-15 years. The balance of payments under newly concluded contracts, starting from 1972, is reduced to a positive balance. In 1993, a positive balance was achieved in technology exchange as a whole.

Japan occupies a peculiar place in the global movement of technology. It imports all technology from industrialized countries and exports almost half to industrialized and developing countries. 40% of the total technology exports are exported to Asian countries. Japanese companies are expanding scientific and technical cooperation and developing industrial cooperation with East and Southeast Asia, seeking to transfer the production of medium-complexity products to neighboring countries, while focusing on the development and development of technologically complex products themselves. As a result, the features of the Japanese-centric model of scientific, technical and industrial interaction are visible in the Asian part of the world.

Relations with the US in technology exchange are characterized by cooperation and conflict. Japan remains highly dependent on US technology imports (69% of its imports). In the early 1990s, the ratio between exports and imports was about 2:1 in favor of the United States, but in the field of electronics it is 5:1, in machine tools - 7:1. In the United States, efforts are being stepped up to protect American technology as trade and economic relations worsen.

The organizational structure of the international activity management system is distinguished by a large number of intermediary firms, which, along with banking institutions, industrial companies and the state regulatory apparatus, have become one of the most important components of the mechanism for implementing its internal and external economic relations. The largest role in the organization and implementation of international activities belongs to nine universal trading intermediary companies (sogo shosha). They form an oligopolistic system of regulation and implementation of international and domestic trading activities. These are the trading houses Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itotyu, Marubeni, Sumitomo, Nisse Iwai, Toyo Menka, Kanematsu Gose, and Nichimen. They account for about 45% of exports and 77% of imports. To their general functions includes the implementation of export and import operations, the execution of formalities to ensure foreign trade, the organization of foreign exchange, and consulting on logistics issues. V last years new functions have appeared - investing capital abroad, promoting scientific and technical research and development.

The combination in the general structure of the subjects of domestic and foreign economic activity of large universal trading and small and medium-sized specialized firms creates a dual structure of the intermediary network, forms the basis high efficiency system of circulation and largely determines the country's success in foreign economic relations. Such a structure of management and regulation is a serious obstacle to the penetration of competitors in the Japanese market. The degree of import penetration (the share of imports in domestic consumption) is 1.5-3 times less than in other leading countries (1975 - 4.9%, 1987 - 4.4, 1995 - 10.1%) .

Export - import of capital. His characteristic features

In the 1980s, there was a reorientation of Japan from the export of goods to the export of capital. In the second half of the 1980s, it ranked first in the export of direct investment. The average annual volume of export in 1981-1985. was 5, in 1986-1990. - 32, in 1991-1993. - 20 billion dollars. In the early 1990s, Japanese companies in the export of capital let American and French TNCs go ahead. In terms of the cumulative volume of foreign direct investment, Japanese companies, as noted above, came second after the United States. Eight Japanese companies in terms of foreign assets are among the 50 largest investors in the world (Hitachi, Matsushita, Toyota, Sony, Nisso Iwai, etc.).

In the 1960s and 70s, the export of capital in the form of direct investment was largely aimed at serving the sale of goods and creating a network of mining enterprises abroad. Subsequently, in connection with the increase in the cost of labor, the exchange rate of the yen, Japanese companies began to create enterprises in labor-intensive industries. Approximately 15% of the production of automobiles in the United States is carried out by companies with Japanese capital. However, until now, the main investments are concentrated in the credit sector (42.4%), trade (11.3%), real estate (11.1%). If in the USA and Germany, 30% and 20% of industrial production, respectively, are removed from their territory, then in Japan - only 11%. In the manufacturing industry, foreign investments are concentrated in electrical engineering, chemistry, and transport engineering.

The main market for the application of Japanese capital is North America, where there is a noticeable tendency to introduce high-tech companies that seek to use American experience and eliminate their backlog in such areas as computers, mobile communications, and computer graphics. They not only form American companies joint ventures, but also create their own. Next in the priorities of Japanese companies is Western Europe, where they are concentrated in Britain and the Netherlands. In Asia, the main centers of attraction for Japanese capital are Indonesia (24%), China (over 20%), and in South America- Panama (40%).

There is a geographic shift in priorities. Since the mid-1980s, after the conclusion of the Plaza currency agreement by the leading Western countries, a massive introduction of Japanese capital into the countries of East and Southeast Asia began. Their volume almost quadrupled, reaching $9.3 billion in 1994 and doubling the level of American direct investment. The change in the policy of Japanese companies resulted in the transformation of the western part of the Asia-Pacific region into one of the main centers for the production and export of color televisions, tape recorders, and air conditioners.

Japanese investment in the area is helping to create a relationship of diverse and complex industrial specialization between local and Japanese enterprises and local enterprises and their counterparts from neighboring countries. Industrial specialization relations contribute to the fact that one or several countries become the main suppliers of certain types of products: electrical parts and electronic circuit elements - Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand; machine tools and production equipment - Taiwan, South Korea; household electrical appliances - Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand.

Foreign Japanese enterprises in East and Southeast Asia send the main part of their exports to Japan - over 40%. It is obvious that the US, which previously had an overwhelmingly high degree of dependence on the market, is gradually losing its positions, which creates prerequisites for regional economic integration at the micro level or integration carried out by foreign investment. Japanese shipments of manufactured products to the countries of East and Southeast Asia exceeded the corresponding exports there from North America and Western Europe.

Japanese overseas companies usually have low profit margins. At manufacturing enterprises, it is 0.9%. In Asian countries, it is quite high - 4.8%, and in North America and Western Europe it often has a negative value. In other words, the enterprises controlled by Japanese capital there are unprofitable. Usually, these are branches and subsidiaries relatively new in time of their operation, when their priority goal is to expand the scale of activities, and not to make a profit.

Japan is not a major target for strange capital. Although the importance of foreign direct investment is growing, their inflow is insignificant, yielding to the corresponding Japanese export by 10-20 times. In the leading Western European countries, this ratio is in the range of 1-2.2 times.

In the past, foreign capital was widely used in the form of credits and loans and portfolio investments. In 1950-1960. its share in gross capital investments did not exceed 2.5%. In 1950-1975. almost 32 billion dollars were attracted. In new industries, foreign capital played a more significant role. Credits and loans were provided to Japan by the US Export-Import Bank.

The economic development of Japan has radically changed the nature of its monetary position. Increasing the competitiveness of Japanese goods in world markets led from the mid-1960s to sharp increase positive balance on all items of external payments. Having become one of the poles of attraction for international means of payment, Japan has become one of the largest creditors. She plays important role in providing government development assistance, becoming the largest donor (1995 - 24.5%), although Japan is inferior to many countries in terms of the share of state aid in GDP - 0.20% of GDP.

A significant part of aid is traditionally directed to the Asian region (over 60%). The most significant part of it is received by China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Bangladesh. There have been changes in the geographical direction of assistance. In the 1970s, South Korea, Pakistan, and India were among its largest recipients. In the 1980s, Japan increased its attention to the countries of Africa (12.2%) and Latin America (9.1% of economic aid in 1992), but in Asian countries it provides half of all Western aid, and in Latin America - 18 %. Unlike the United States and Western European countries, more than half of bilateral aid comes in the form of low-interest yen loans. They are mostly unrelated in nature, which also differs from the assistance of a number of Western countries. Approximately 12% of all aid goes to technical cooperation, which is below the level of the US, France and Germany. The central place in it is occupied by the admission of foreign students and trainees, with a relatively small number of Japanese specialists sent abroad (5,000 foreign students in 1990).

As of 2010, Japan ranked second in the world after China in exporting capital. The export of capital is currently the main form of foreign economic activity. Most Japanese capital works in the USA (42.2%), Asia (24.2%), Western Europe (15.3%), Latin America (9.3%).

The Japanese government intends to allocate more than $300 million for the development of solar energy in dozens of developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The main goal of the investment is to capture the global market by Japanese solar panel manufacturers. Japan will provide and install equipment free of charge as part of a new anti-crisis program. According to the Japanese government, the ongoing efforts will help increase the competitiveness of the national industry. Japan is one of the market leaders solar energy in terms of capacity commissioning and installed capacity. By 2020, Japan's solar power capacity will reach 37 GW, 26 times the 2005 level.

Meanwhile, Japan is actively attracting foreign investment. Tokyo plans to bring the volume of investments from abroad into the country's economy up to 5% of the gross domestic product. By the end of 2008, this figure approached 3.6% of GDP.

Tokyo is the world financial center of Japan

Tokyo is one of the world's three financial centers, along with New York and London. Also, Tokyo is one of the most economically developed agglomerations in the world. According to research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures together, 35.2 million people) has a total GDP of $1.191 trillion in 2005 (purchasing power parity) and ranks first among the largest agglomerations in the world by GDP. In 2008, 47 Fortune Global 500 companies were based in Tokyo.

Tokyo is a major international financial center and the headquarters of some of the world's largest investment banks and insurance companies, as well as serving as the hub for the transportation, publishing and broadcasting industries in Japan. During the centralized growth of the Japanese economy after World War II, many large companies moved their headquarters from cities like Osaka (the historic financial capital) to Tokyo in an attempt to take advantage of greater access to power. In recent times, this trend has begun to decline due to the continued growth of the population in Tokyo and the high cost of living there. Tokyo has been ranked by The Economist magazine as the most expensive (highest cost of living) city in the world for 14 consecutive years, until 2006.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange of Japan is the largest stock exchange, as well as the second largest in the world by market capitalization and the fourth largest share in turnover.

Tokyo had 20,900 hectares of agricultural land in 2003, ranking last among the country's prefectures, according to Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Perishable goods such as vegetables, fruits and flowers are supplied to markets in the eastern part of the county. Chinese cabbage (komatsuna) and spinach are the most important foods produced. Tokyo Bay was one of the main sources of fish. Currently, most of Tokyo's fish products come from outlying islands such as Izuoshima and Hachijojima. The main ocean food is tuna. Tourism in Tokyo also contributes to the economy.

Japan is a very highly developed country in the entire world. Highly developed industry and GDP allowed the country to take the third place in world production.

Much attention is paid here to the development of high technologies, which are the main part of exports. Development of an online store, high-precision instruments and much more is well established in this country. But still, some of Japan's goods are imported from other countries.
Goods that Japan brings from abroad.
Most of the country has virtually no natural resources, so they have to be imported from other countries. These resources and raw materials include energy resources and a large list of other important goods. Basically, machinery and equipment, products of the chemical and textile industries, as well as their raw materials, are imported.
Due to its geographical location, the possibility of using the land for agriculture is only 15% of the total land area. This is the reason for the import of most grain and fodder crops into the country, with the exception of rice. Japan is the world's leading importer of wheat. This figure will increase in 2014 by four million tons.
Imported, and most of all meat consumed, mainly beef.
Imported raw materials are mainly natural fuels. Oil is sold to the country mainly by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Disadvantages of foreign trade
once upon a time, nuclear power plants accounted for 30% of all electricity produced. Significant dependence on imports of oil and gas was reflected in the import of imported raw materials, which was increased by 18% - in terms of money, the amount amounted to 133 billion dollars. Imports of liquefied natural gas amounted to almost a third of the total world production. The main fuel for the operation of thermal power plants and cars, of course, is gas. At the moment, the amount of gas imported from abroad exceeded its exports.
In addition to imported raw materials for energy, the country exceeded imports of polished diamonds by 20%, the same applies to timber imported to Japan. The island is rich in deposits of natural minerals, but poor in metals. The entire volume of supplied metal, such as copper, aluminum and iron ore, is completely imported by other countries.
The main partners in the sale of raw materials to Japan are the countries of Southeast Asia, as well as countries that are members of the European Union. The percentage of imported raw materials and goods from Australia and Russia increased. Undoubtedly, the United States has long been Japan's main trading and business partner. More than 30% of the goods imported from Japan are sold on the market of this country, and only 20% is provided by imports.

Japan's economy is one of the most developed economies in the world. In terms of GDP, which is $ 5,458,000,000,000, and the volume of industrial production, Japan ranks 3rd among the countries of the world, after the USA and China. High technologies (electronics and robotics) are developed. Transport engineering is also developed, including automotive and shipbuilding, machine tool building. The fishing fleet is 15% of the world. Agriculture is subsidized by the state, but 55% of food (by calorie equivalent) is imported. There is a network of high speed railways Shinkansen and expressways.

Banking, insurance, real estate, retail, transportation and telecommunications are the main industries of the Japanese economy. Japan has great manufacturing potential and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced manufacturers of automobiles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and non-ferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles and food. Construction has long been one of Japan's largest industries, thanks to multi-billion dollar government contracts in the private sector.

Export structure: transport vehicles, cars, motorcycles, electronics, electrical engineering, chemicals.

Import structure: machinery and equipment, fuel, food, chemicals, raw materials.

At the end of the twentieth century. Japan's foreign exchange reserves grew rapidly. The government introduced a system of measures to liberalize the export of Japanese capital abroad. Now it is the most powerful banking center and international creditor. Its share in international loans increased from 5% in 1980 to 20.6% in 1990. The export of capital is the main form of foreign economic activity. Most Japanese capital works in the USA (42.2%), Asia (24.2%), Western Europe (15.3%), Latin America (9.3%).

Japanese trade is a type of value-added trade. It consists of Japan's imports of raw materials and exports of manufactured goods. During the existence of the Japanese Empire, the country mainly imported raw materials for the textile industry, and exported textile goods. Trade was focused on light industry items. After World War II, Japan's main imports were fuel, and exports were engineering products, automobiles, high-precision equipment, and semiconductors. Trade was reoriented to heavy goods and the chemical industry. Since 1980, the country has had a permanent positive trade balance - sales exceed purchases. Because of this, trade conflicts have repeatedly erupted between Japan and the United States. In the 1990s, Japanese manufacturing plants moved a significant portion of their factories to Asian countries. The products of these enterprises are also imported to Japan.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the main Japanese imports were oil, liquefied natural gas, textile goods, simple microcircuits, computers, fish, and seafood. The main exports were automobiles, complex circuits, steel, chemical and machine-building products. As of 2010, the foreign trade turnover amounted to about 1.402 trillion US dollars.

Japan's main trading partners are the United States, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.

In 2008-2009, the trade surplus increased 6 times: in September 2008 it was 90 billion yen ($1 billion) in September 2009 - 529.6 billion yen ($5.7 billion). Compared to September 2008, in 2009 the surplus in trade with Russia turned into a deficit and amounted to 52.65 billion yen ($580 million).

The country, poor in natural resources, has been able to integrate very successfully into the world economy in recent years. Initially, Japan turned into a world center for the manufacturing industry, after which science-intensive industries developed. Today, Japan is one of the most significant trading powers in the modern economy. Japan's economy is largely tied to the import of fuel and industrial raw materials. To date, the structure of imports has changed significantly: priority is given to imports more finished goods than for the import of raw materials. It should be noted that Japan at all stages of its formation was characterized by a positive trade balance. However, Japan's foreign trade surplus, which for many years provided an inflow of finance into the country's economy, tends to decrease. Over the past fiscal year, Japan's economy grew by 2.3%.

The Japanese economy is aimed at creating favorable foreign economic relations in order to develop and create a competitive state. The country's economy is characterized by a foreign trade orientation. The foreign trade indicator per capita in Japan (in 2010 - 12189.37 US dollars) cannot be called large due to the fact that the volume of trade turnover is high, and in terms of population, Japan ranks tenth in the world.

Table 1

Dynamics of development of Japan's foreign trade in 2002-2010.

Source: Monthly Bulletin of Statistics Online INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE .Table #34. Total imports and exports by regions and countries or areas. (www.unstats.un.org)

Between 2002 and 2010, Japan's foreign trade almost doubled, but growth was erratic. This is especially noticeable in 2003 and 2004. The volume of foreign trade first fell from $858,718 billion in 2002 to $752,805 billion in 2003, and then fixed at $753,939 billion in 2004. The data is driven by a decline as both exports and imports of Japan during these years. It was only in 2006 that Japan was able to overcome the 2002 indicator. Subsequently, the indicator of foreign trade turnover increased in the period from 2006 to 2010. It should be noted that throughout the development of Japan's foreign trade, the coverage ratio exceeded 100%, which indicates that exports exceeded imports. But at the same time, the value of the coverage ratio gradually decreased, in 2002 the figure was 126.3%, and in 2009 it was 114.5%, which certainly indicates an increase in the role of imports in the Japanese economy. In 2010, the coverage ratio was 103.1%, in connection with which it can be noted that in the near future, it is possible that imports in the turnover of Japan's foreign trade will have a dominant role. The share of the country in world exports in the time period from 2002 to 2010 gradually decreased, at the same time, the volume of exports itself increased. The same thing happened with Japan's imports. From this it should be noted that Japan, despite the gradual growth, is losing its dominant position, countries such as China are increasingly strengthening their positions and gaining a foothold in the modern economy.

The growth in the value of imports before the onset of the global financial and economic crisis was due to the presence of solvent demand in the domestic market, but at the same time, a very large sector was occupied by trade in the foreign market. Record quantitative indicators of export-import activities were achieved by the country over the past 2011 (1595.5 billion US dollars). Despite the economic crisis, Japan has been successfully developing its economy since 2006. The main positions for imported goods are machinery and equipment, fuel, food, chemicals, textiles, ores and other raw materials. It was the reduction in demand in the domestic markets of the country for these categories of products, to a greater extent for machinery and equipment, that formed the bulk of the decline in imports in the period from 2003 to 2004.

The record quantitative indicators of export-import activity achieved in recent years cannot be regarded as unambiguously positive, since the negative aspects associated with foreign trade remain, and some of them have even intensified. In particular, the decrease in the role of Japan in comparison with a number of other countries. At the same time, Japanese goods are characterized by high competitiveness. Main positive quality Japanese products is the fact that the amount of marriage is not more than 0.01% of manufactured products. Outstripping growth in labor productivity, significantly less loss of working time in the event of certain conflicts, the highest level of private savings also play an important role in strengthening Japan's position in the modern world economy.

The extremely high concentration of Japan's imports on a narrow group of fuel and raw materials and materials makes the country's economy very sensitive to fluctuations in the world market and limits the possibility of effective participation in the international division of labor. Every year, the Japanese economy becomes more and more dependent on world energy prices (primarily oil) and becomes an increasing threat to socio-economic stability in the country. The same is happening with the import of raw materials, the import of products for the manufacturing industry in Japan plays a very significant role.

One of the favorable features of Japanese exports of manufacturing products is that most of them are high-tech products.

Japan has recorded a trade deficit for the first time in more than 30 years. The reasons for this were natural disasters that hit the country, the growth of the national currency, as well as a decrease in demand for Japanese goods.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the trade deficit for 2011 amounted to 2.49 trillion yen (32.3 billion dollars). Japan's exports fell 2.7% to a total of 65.55 trillion yen (851 billion dollars), while imports soared 12% to 68 trillion yen (883 billion dollars), ITAR-TASS reported. This is the first time this has happened in the country since 1980.

"In 2012, Japan may again face a trade deficit"

The Ministry of Finance called the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in March 2011 the main reason for this. As a result, the factories of such giants as Toyota Motor and Sony suffered. It is already difficult for companies to compete with competitors from South Korea and other developing countries.

The reason for the problems of exporters also became floods in Thailand - the main base for many Japanese manufacturers. In addition, the yen continues to rise, which contributes to an increase in prices for Japanese goods. This has an extremely negative impact on Japan's export-oriented economy. The Japanese currency has become a haven for currency traders, despite the fundamental weakness of the economy.

As of 2010, the amount of goods for export was 765,200,000,000 US dollars. Japan's main partners in 2009 were:

China 18.88%, USA 16.42%, South Korea 8.13%, Republic of China 6.27%, Hong Kong 5.49%.

table 2

Commodity structure of Japan's exports 2000 - 2011.

Source: International Trade StatisticsYearbook. Vol/, New-York, UN, 2000, 2008 online. (www.comtrade.un.org)

Japan's main exports are machinery, equipment and vehicles. However, despite the fact that its share in 2010 is more than sixty percent of the country's total exports, it can be seen that this figure has decreased compared to 2000. Moreover, the average annual growth rate of this export item is low (104.98%) and is inferior to most Japanese export items. This is primarily due to the global economic crisis, which marked a drop in demand for durable goods, in particular for cars. During periods of economic recovery, the population begins to actively buy such products. At the same time, it is on it that people save money when the situation on the market worsens, which is what we are seeing at this stage.

Judging by the average annual growth rate, the most dynamically developing export items are non-food raw materials (except fuel) and goods and transactions not concluded in the relevant sections of the SITC, although their share in Japan's total exports remains relatively low.

As of 2010, the amount of goods for import was $636,800,000,000. The main partners of Japan in 2009 were: China 22.2%, USA 10.96%, Australia 6.29%, Saudi Arabia 5.29%,

UAE 4.12%, South Korea 3.98%, Indonesia 3.95%.

Table 3

Commodity structure of Japanese imports in 2000 and 2010.