Mitsui Life Symposium
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
40th Mitsui Life Symposium: Private Capital Markets
This year’s symposium will highlight all aspects of private capital markets. Submissions of theoretical and empirical papers on all aspects of private capital markets will include:
Technology and Private Markets: AI/ML startups, digital transformation,
technology adoption, financing innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems
Private Credit and Direct Lending: Market structure, risk assessment, and
regulatory implications
Market Access and Democratization: Retail investor participation and
regulatory frameworks
Private Equity and Buyouts: Performance, governance, operational
improvements, and value creation
Special consideration will be given to early-stage research that has not been presented
at major conferences.
Tokyo, Japan
The 39th Mitsui Life Symposium in Japan: Current Status and Challenges of Foreign Direct Investment to Japan
Japan’s inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been traditionally very low. Currently it is the lowest among developed countries by any measure (it is less than 10% of the GDP and about 15% of outward FDI balance). Recognizing that FDI is essential to Japan’s economic growth, the Japanese government established the Japan Investment Council within the Cabinet Office in 1994 and has been actively promoting it. The current Takaichi Cabinet has positioned economic growth as the most critical issue for achieving its goal of building a strong economy. It has made clear its policy of promoting inward FDI in strategic sectors while prioritizing “strengthening economic security.” The symposium plans to address the reasons for such low levels of inward FDI, how it can be increased to achieve the government’s target of doubling it by 2030, and the concerns of economic security.
The format of the symposium will be a panel discussion facilitated by Kozo Kiyota (Professor and Director, Keio University Economic Observatory and Economic Research Institute). The panelists are Mio Kawata (Board Member, Japan External Trade Organization), Hiroko Jimbo (Attorney-at-Law, Nishimura & Asahi, New York State Bar), Tamotsu Hiiro (President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company Japan Co., Ltd.), and Kazuhiro Yamada (Managing Director and Japan Co-Head, Carlyle Japan LLC).