An affordable and reliable source of energy, coal accounts for approximately a quarter of the world’s total energy needs. Forty-one percent of global electricity demand is powered by coal-fired power plants and Japan is playing a leading role in the development and rollout of new high-efficiency, low-emission (HELE) technology power plants.

Based in northwestern New South Wales (NSW), Whitehaven Coal Ltd., Australia’s largest independent coal producer, supplies nearly 70 percent of the high-quality thermal coal it produces to HELE power plants across Japan.

“Our coal basin produces exceptional quality coal that is high in energy and low in ash, sulphur and other impurities,” said Paul Flynn, Whitehaven Coal’s managing director and chief executive officer.

Photos provided by: Whitehaven Coal

Today, the group is the global market leader in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) resin, optical-use PVA film for liquid crystal display production, water-soluble PVA film and Eval, a marketed brand for ethylene vinyl-alcohol copolymer resins and films used in the food packaging industry.

Eval provides excellent barrier properties against the permeation of gases and preserves the flavor and quality of perishable goods.

Photo by: Synergy Media Specialists

“As a company providing solutions such as Eval, which is a chemically based product, we recognized Plantic would bring value to our business,” said Plantic Technologies President Kenzo Okamoto. “We now have a bio-based sustainable solution that we can offer to our customers.”

While still in its early stages as a company, Plantic has already done business with reputable brands such as Nestle SA, Cadbury Ltd. and Mars Inc. and is delivering 121 million recyclable meat and poultry trays to Coles Group Ltd., one of Australia’s largest supermarket retailers.

Photo provided by: Plantic Technologies

Serving over 70 industries, the company’s proprietary technologies translate to over 13,500 products that provide customers with innovative and unique solutions.

Within Nitto Denko’s network of 96 global companies, the corporation’s Australian operations are a testament to the uniqueness of the Australian market.

Established in the 1980s to serve the automotive manufacturing sector, the company has had to reinvent itself in recent years after the collapse of the automotive sector.

Photo by: Synergy Media Specialists

Japanese and Europeans have a long history of implementing effective waste management solutions. In 2010, Japan-based Hitachi Zosen Corp. purchased 85-year-old Swiss company Von Roll Inova AG; a global leader in technology supply and turnkey delivery of waste-to-energy projects.

The resulting company, Hitachi Zosen Inova AG has installed over 570 turnkey plants for thermal and biological energy recovery. In 2015, the Australian branch of Hitachi Zosen Inova was established to meet the challenges of Australia’s rising landfill fees and ambitious recycling targets.

Photo provided by: Hitachi Zosen Inova

Hosoya and his Australian general partners, David Bolliger and Richard Lawson, established the AI Human fund, an early stage venture capital fund investing in breakthrough technologies tied to artificial intelligence. The fund specializes in companies that generate, control and learn from unique data sources, especially in health care, agricultural technology, food technology infrastructure and educational technology.

“Japan and Australia are the most developed countries in the Asian region and our team is founded on Japan-Australia collaborations,” said Bolliger. “We have seen a real appetite from investors in both countries regarding our pipeline of disruptive innovation companies. Some of these companies are from Queensland, which already has strong ties to Japan.”

Photo provided by: InterValley Ventures

With over 700 employees and 30 branch offices on the east coast of Australia, PICA Group is committed to building on its highly respected reputation within the country’s property and real estate sector.

Through its 15 subsidiary companies, PICA Group works closely with owners of residential, commercial, mixed-use properties, hotels and resorts to provide tailored services, financial management and industry advice.

PICA Group has been held as a joint venture for the last five years between Fexco, an Irish-based financial services company and Nippon Kanzai Co. Ltd., Japan’s leading property management and engineering services company.

Photo by: Synergy Media Specialists

Nippon Kanzai’s investment is one of their largest outside Japan. The company’s industry-leading position in their home market has enabled PICA Group to draw on the company’s strengths and reputation and build a stronger portfolio of property-related services.

“Nippon Kanzai introduced us to facilities management services,” said Nash. “While this is a relatively new business for us, we already manage 120 high-end buildings in Sydney.”

Photo provided by: PICA Group

“Our success in Sydney is paving the way for our expansion to the rest of the east coast of the country,” said Nash.

As the company continues to expand both organically and inorganically, Nash is committed to strengthening the professional skills of PICA Group’s workforce and investing in technology to drive productivity and growth.

Photo provided by: PICA Group