Japan as a Base for Establishing Markets Throughout Asia: the Case of French Industrial Glue Manufacturers

The frenetic levels of consumption and massive infrastructure requirements of Asia-Pacific countries are a regular focus of attention for Western economic and financial magazines. Day after day, industrialists in the construction, foodstuff and automotive sectors claim to place this region of the world at the top of their strategic priorities. It is true that the prospect of equipping and nourishing almost a billion new consumers from now to the year 2000 is enough to call the senior officers of every firm into action. The manufacturers of glues and industrial adhesives concentrated in the Triad countries, where the markets served are already mature and highly competitive, are also in search of new outlets. This intermediate industry, positioned downstream from chemicals, supplies all industrial sectors from construction to packaging, from manufacturers of domestic electrical goods to transport. The downturn in economic activity which hit these client sectors one by one after 1990 went on to shake the world of glues and adhesives, now experiencing a succession of mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations without precedent. At a time of production plant relocation, the chance to follow their industrial customers in their internationalization policy seemed attractive to many adhesive mix preparers.