BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

established Toyota Tsusho Finance (Cambodia) Plc.and entered the captive finance and lease business. Thenew company operated a finance business for multipleproducts sold by TMC, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., YanmarCo., Ltd., and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.,Ltd. This was the first time a Japanese general tradingcompany had become involved in the captive finance andlease business in Cambodia. Having already deployedthis business in Indonesia, Kenya, and Mauritius, ToyotaTsusho was able to utilize its experience and expertiseto work with local partners and distributors to expand itsvalue chain in another emerging nation, Cambodia.Establishing a Techno Park Management CompanyIn May 2015, Toyota Tsusho established in Cambodiaa new company, Techno Park Poi Pet Pvt. Co., Ltd.,to support local production by Japanese and Thaiautomobile parts companies. This was in response tothe increased use of Cambodia as a satellite base forJapanese automobile parts manufacturers with basesin Thailand. The new company subsequently starteda Techno Park business in Poipet City, on the borderbetween Cambodia and Thailand. Through this business,customers could rent factory space in units of 1,000square meters and take advantage of catering services foremployees and administrative services, such as generalaffairs, finance, accounting, and personnel services. Thisallowed them to concentrate on manufacturing, and toreduce the costs involved in setting up local production ina different country. Techno Park Poi Pet started operationin September 2016.8 Business Development in Lao PDRToyota Tsusho has been involved in a range ofbusinesses in Lao PDR. In March 2014, the companyextended an agreement made by Tomen Corp. to manageand operate the international terminal at the WattayInternational Airport in Vientiane, the capital city of LaoPDR. In January 2016, Toyota Tsusho partnered withInternet Initiative Japan Inc. and Mitsubishi UFJ MorganStanley Securities Co., Ltd., to conduct a proof ofconcept for an energy-saving data center project in LaoPDR. Demonstration operations were started at the datacenter in November of the same year.In July 2016, Toyota Tsusho established Toyota TsushoLeasing (Lao) Co., Ltd., and entered the Laotian leasingbusiness. In October 2018, Toyota Tsusho establishedan official Toyota distributor Toyota Laos Co., Ltd., inwhich it had a 90% stake. Toyota Laos signed a contractwith existing Toyota dealers and was officially opened inJanuary 2019.9 Business Development in IndiaIndia: A Key CountryToyota Tsusho has long supported manufacturersmoving into India through Toyota Techno Park IndiaPvt. Ltd., which it established as a joint venture withTMC in 1998. With the country’s rapid economic growthsince the 2000s, India joined China in becoming a keycountry for Toyota Tsusho’s operations. Although thebarriers to business entry in India were high, ToyotaTsusho believed that the nation’s huge population of 1.2billion people represented future potential and that it wasimportant to deepen connections there. This view wasconsistent with the policies of the Japanese government.Alongside Africa, India was judged to be of considerablegeopolitical importance, and in 2008 Toyota Tsushobegan to actively develop business there. Through itssubsidiary Toyota Tsusho India Pvt. Ltd. (TTIPL), ToyotaTsusho invested aggressively in not only the TechnoPark business but also other businesses in nonautomotive(TRY1) fields, such as hospital management and rareearth resources. As a result, Toyota Tsusho ended upinvesting in close to 40 companies in India.Expansion of the Techno Park BusinessIn 1998, Toyota Tsusho launched a Techno Parkbusiness in Bangalore, India, to support JapaneseWith the prime minister of Lao PDR., Thongloun SisoulithToyota Techno Park India (Bangalore)History163