The Japan External Trade Organization has set up a pavilion at the Singapore Airshow to promote some of the nation's most promising small and medium-size companies and help them tap new markets overseas.
Nine Japanese firms are displaying their wares at JETRO's 150-sq.-meter pavilion at the air show, which began Tuesday and runs through Sunday.
It is the first time the state-backed organization has set up a pavilion at the event, billed as Asia's largest aerospace and defense event and expected to draw more than 40,000 trade visitors from about 100 countries.
Most featured firms specialize in metal processing for aircraft parts, so promoting their products at a leading air show is a huge opportunity for them, JETRO official Haruki Gunji said.
"There are many small and midsize companies with great technologies and products, but unlike big corporations it's hard for them to develop contacts in foreign markets," he said. "So JETRO is trying to bring together companies that have good products and technologies and to push them at foreign aerospace exhibitions to increase their exposure."
One executive whose firm is being promoted by JETRO said the pavilion has effectively cut the cost of exhibiting products at the air show by about 50 percent.