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The delegation includes Toshikazu Masuyama, Executive Director of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovations, heads of international cooperation organizations, science and education experts, and representatives of small and medium businesses. The purpose of their visit is to study the Russian market of automotive components and measure of governmental support of small and medium businesses.

In his welcome speech addressed to representatives of regional authorities, Toshikazu Masuyama said that the Japanese delegation had been working in Russia for three days. “The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation specifically recommended that we go to Kaluga Region. Now that we have visited several plants and the specialist training center, we understand why. We think that your region has a very serious approach to economic development and recruitment of investors”.

The delegates wanted to know how well small and medium businesses were represented in the region’s automotive cluster. Ilya Veselov, General Director of the Agency for Regional Development of Kaluga Region, said that there were currently mostly first level suppliers active in the region, and that the main objective was to attract second and third level suppliers.

Another issue of interest for the Japanese delegates was governmental support of small and medium businesses. Violetta Komissarova, Head of the Department of Innovations and Entrepreneurship of the Ministry of Economic Development of Kaluga Region, said that there were over 12,000 small and medium businesses in the region.

The delegation plans to visit Research and Production Association Telemetriya - the leader in the market of development and production of electronic service and security alarms (Pandora car alarms and Pandect immobilizers). From 2012, the company also produces PandoraLED powerful programmable street lights. Their competitive advantages include high lighting efficiency, high construction quality and a high level of automation.