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Devastated by an earthquake in January1995, the port city of Kobe has been busy rebuilding itself. The city decided in 1998 that its future lay not in its seaport but in medicine. Taking advantage of a concentration of major drug makers (Takeda, Shionogi, and Fujisawa) and universities in the Kansai region, Kobe decided to transform itself into a center for advanced medical research. The city plans to prosper by persuading scientists at Japan's top universities and research institutes to open their labs and work with entrepreneurs to ensure the efficient commercialization of new findings. Already, several state-of-the-art institutes have taken shape on a man-made island in the Osaka Bay, including The Centre for Developmental Biology (CDB) and the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation. At the nearby Kobe International Business Centre, 19 companies have set up offices so far, including five foreign-owned ones. Firms moving into the space get rent subsidies, as well as breaks on fixed assets, property acquisition and enterprise taxes. (From: "Bridging the Science and Business Gap," Far Eastern Economic Review, June 27, 2002) (Quelle: JETRO Invest Japan!: In the Media, Jul. 2002)
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