Yukio Hamano, the Executive Director of Korea Nakamura Tome Co., LTD.(KNT), a Japanese multi-tasking machine producer, had an interview with DGFEZ team and shared KNT’s story about expanding its business in Daegu Technopolis district and doing business in South Korea.

Q1. Can you tell me about KNT and doing business in South Korea?
A. KNT established in Daegu, Korea on December 28th 2011. Its parent company is Nakamura Tome Precision Industry, a multi-tasking machine producer, based in Japan. Nakamura Tome is a global company, exporting about 70% of its products to 33 countries. Based on this, we decided to move to Daegu to produce multi-tasking machines and export them to the other countries around the world.

Q2. Why did you choose Daegu Technopolis?
A. The main reason that we came to Technopolis is because South Korea has many Free Trade Agreements. Since 70% of our exports go to EU and the U.S., we plan to take advantage of the FTA to sell our products to the U.S. and EU. Also, considering that the level of Daegu’s component suppliers is very good, we concluded that we will be able to find components that match the quality of our products.

Q3. What support did DGFEZ provide to KNT?
A. Our factory was the second to enter Technopolis, so there were very few factories nearby, and infrastructure was not fully established. We asked DGFEZ to provide support including our employees’ lodging and business partner matchmaking. With the help of DGFEZ, today’s KNT exists.

Q4. Can you tell me about KNT’s employees?
A. Right now, we have 20 Korean employees. We are particularly employing young people, and they are very smart and learn quickly. Their future growth as engineers is highly expected.

Q5. Can you compare working culture in Korea and Japan?
A. One similarity between Korean and Japanese working culture is that employees are hard-working and diligent. One difference is that in Japan, workers tend to stay at one company for their entire career, whereas in Korea, workers are more mobile. We will do our utmost to train and retain our employees through long-term career development programs.