Event Report: Economic Security Seminar with Sanae Takaichi and Corporate Challenges

Click Here for the Press Release https://usonar.co.jp/news/20250605_1482.html

Background of the Economic Security Seminar

Against the backdrop of international tensions, private companies, as well as governments, are being called upon to address economic security. Specific challenges include strengthening supply chains, protecting critical infrastructure, and preventing the leakage of data and technical information.

uSonar provides companies with one of Japan's largest proprietary corporate databases. As part of this initiative, we are developing services to support the field of economic security, particularly in supply chain management and risk mitigation for business partners.

Therefore, we planned this lecture featuring Sanae Takaichi, an expert in this field who served as the Minister of State for Economic Security, to provide a forum for corporate executives to learn about the latest information and trends together.

■ Overview of the Economic Security Seminar

The event was limited to approximately 100 attendees, primarily consisting of executives and senior management from large corporations. The audience included professionals from sales and marketing, corporate strategy, finance and legal, and procurement departments, as well as many individuals directly responsible for economic security.

At this seminar, our President and Representative Director, Katsuhito Nagatake, delivered opening remarks and introduced our economic security support service, DeepCheck, before Ms. Takaichi took the stage.

Ms. Takaichi began by introducing cutting-edge technological topics such as nuclear fusion and plant factories, emphasizing the importance of energy and food security. She explained the significance of fostering fields in which Japan maintains a competitive advantage.

She then raised concerns regarding the adoption of products from countries of concern in industries such as drones, surveillance cameras, data centers, and cloud services. Furthermore, she discussed key issues of interest, including the implications of China's National Intelligence Law and visa restrictions under the U.S. Trump administration. She concluded her lecture by cautioning private sector individuals to remain vigilant, citing an example where a listening device was discovered at a renowned Japanese restaurant under foreign capital ownership. During the subsequent Q&A session, topics such as raising awareness among small and medium-sized enterprises within supply chains, cyber defense, and security clearance were discussed.

■ Feedback from Seminar Participants (Corporate Executives) – Interest in the Necessity of an Economic Security Database –

In the post-seminar survey, many participants commented that it was a valuable opportunity to learn about the latest trends in economic security, and many expressed a realization of the need for a database that can be used to check supply chains and business partners from an economic security perspective.

Below, we have highlighted some of the key comments.

Department Manager, Major Financial Institution

I realized that it is necessary to deal with the relevant laws of countries of concern with an even greater sense of caution. I also gained a renewed understanding of the importance of background checks for business partners.

Major Manufacturer, Economic Security Department

Raising internal awareness regarding economic security and securing specialized personnel are challenges. Although difficult, we are moving forward with these initiatives.

Major Real Estate, Development Department

Among the points raised by Ms. Takaichi, I gained valuable insight from her statement that costs related to security should not be viewed as unavoidable expenses, but as investments to protect our credibility. Furthermore, the perspective on how to protect trade secrets—by establishing and operating strict information management rules based on the Unfair Competition Prevention Act—was highly educational. In our case, while we have established awareness for pre-transaction checks and anti-social force checks, there are individual differences in the level of vigilance regarding economic security, which I recognize as a future challenge.

Major Transportation, General Manager

I obtained information on the latest and broad fields of economic security. I was particularly interested in the policy approach focused on increasing energy and food self-sufficiency rates. I recognize that our company's challenge in economic security moving forward is how to grasp the status of each company within our supply chain.

Logistics Machinery, Department Manager

Ms. Takaichi's immersive lecture was very interesting. We are promoting global business expansion and need to conduct business with countries that carry country risk. Depending on the global situation, I feel we must anticipate that maintaining a balance will become increasingly difficult in the future.

Construction, Technical Chief

I thought I understood the need for caution regarding products from certain countries, but I was most intrigued by the point that caution is also necessary in places like restaurants. I would like to apply this to employee training and awareness reform.

About uSonar Co., Ltd.

Since our establishment in 1990, we have independently built and maintained LBC, one of Japan's largest corporate databases, to address challenges related to B2B data. By leveraging our proprietary technology for collecting and organizing high-quality, accurate data, as well as cutting-edge insights such as artificial intelligence, we provide the customer data integration solution uSonar to support the development of more precise business strategies.

We offer a variety of cloud services to solve our customers' challenges, including the management strategy platform PLANSonar, the business card & corporate information management app mSonar, and the corporate registration information download tool Touki Sonar.

A member company of the Institute of Geoeconomics since 2024.

(Photo taken during the photo session after the Economic Security Seminar. Ms. Takaichi is in the center, with Chairman Nami Fukutomi on the right and President Nagatake on the left.)