Washington State will be sponsoring two booths in the JETRO Building Materials Center in Tokyo from next October. The BMC is located in the Shinjuku Park Tower Building, and is fully staffed by JETRO personnel. Also located in the same building is Taisei Corporation·/FONT>s imported housing showroom as well as other housing related showrooms such as Tokyo Gas. The JETRO BMC has received 40 - 70 visitors per day from the housing industry. There is a waiting list for displaying and applications are competitive. Companies applying on their own are only allowed to display for 12 months in the BMC.

As a state government, Washington State has been allowed 2 booths and will be able to stay in the BMC for as long as we want. Space within the Washington State booth will be available to companies that want to display small samples and product literature. It is expected we will have about 10 companies in total. Cost for participating for 12 months will be about $1200 per company.

See accompanying program matrix and registration form for further details on participation.

JETRO BMC staff will collect business cards and inquiries from visitors for referral to exhibiting companies. Other activities to support exhibitors include a listing in the printed exhibitors·/FONT> directory produced by JETRO along with a number of technical seminars for visitors. The Tokyo center held 40 seminars during its first year of operation after opening in the spring of 1996, and runs advertisements in newspapers and trade magazine promoting the center. There were 31 exhibitors, representing over 50 companies, last year in the 16,000 square foot Tokyo center.

A new bilingual web site has been developed for promoting Washington State housing exports to Japan. The site has several components and is intended primarily for Japanese buyers seeking product and company information on Washington State suppliers and manufacturers.

Some of the primary functions of this site include an on-line company directory, newsletter, schedule of upcoming programming events, technical product information, contact information, an information request system and links to company and other government home pages. CTED developed the site and will manage it. The US Department of Commerce is a sponsor.

The first phase of the web site will focus on the company directory. Companies will have the option of purchasing listings in both the new printed 1998 Washington State Housing for Japan Directory, as well as the on-line directory. Participation cost for the printed directory is $220 per company listing and the on-line directory cost is $50 per company. The printed directory will be available in January 1998 for distribution. Company listings for the on-line directory will be posted within 3-4 weeks of submission and payment. It is hoped companies will want listings in both versions of the directories to maximize exposure to potential buyers in Japan.