President Leonel Fernández, on an investment promotion trip to the Far East, told Dominican journalists covering his trip, that top executives of Honda, Mitsubishi and Toyota with whom he met in Tokyo, showed an interest in investing in plants to manufacture spare parts and vehicles in the DR. Furthermore, President Fernández said that Mitsubishi is already installing a plant to manufacture air-conditioners in the DR. He said that Toyota will send an exploratory mission to study possibilities of assembling appliances and computer hardware in the DR. The President visited the Fujitsu plant at the Tawasaki Industrial Park. There he was received by Tabashi Sekizawa, president of the corporation, Yoshiaki Mezajima, general manager, and Apsujuki Korawa, chief executive of the business holding group. The President and Minister of Tourism Felix Jiménez met with Mr. Funayama, president of the Japan Tourism Bureau. They addressed possibilities of selling Dominican vacations to the Japanese travelers. Some 17 million Japanese traveled West in 1999. The President also addressed the possibility of Japanese companies investing in hotel facilities that would cater to Orientals. The President again met with executives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to further discuss support for small Japanese companies that would make investments in Dominican free zone industries. President Leonel Fernández also said that the last trip he makes during his term as President, which ends 16 August, will be to Seattle and Silicon Valley, following an invitation by Bill Gates. President Fernández traveled today to Singapore for continued promotion of the Santo Domingo Cyberpark. From there he will fly to Bangkok, Thailand to attend the Xth UNCTAD Conference.
