May 21, 2003
Joint Press Statement for the 22nd JAMA-MEMA
Liaison Committee Meeting on May 20, 2003
The Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) held the 22nd JAMA-MEMA Liaison Committee Meeting on May 20, 2003 at Yokohama, Japan. The Liaison Committee Meeting was co-chaired by the Chairman of JAMA's Purchasing Committee, Mr. Teruyuki Minoura (Managing Director, Toyota Motor Corporation) and Chairman Ronald L. Cutler (Vice President - Marketing, TRW, Inc.) of MEMA. In addition to the co-chairs, 16 delegates from JAMA, including 4 representatives from JAMA member company R&D departments, and 16 delegates from MEMA companies attended this meeting.
The JAMA-MEMA Liaison Committee Meeting has been a key forum since its inception in 1987 for the Japanese automotive industry and the US auto parts industry to discuss matters of mutual concern. The 22nd Committee Meeting focused on Japanese OEM project development and suppliers' systems for achieving performance targets. This was the first time for R&D engineers to participate in the Liaison Committee Meeting. This step was taken in response to MEMA's request to promote wider networking between MEMA members and Japanese OEM's R&D staff. The discussions were informative and productive for both sides.
The JAMA-MEMA Liaison Committee Meeting has been a major instrument for supporting the development of business relationships among US manufacturers of automotive parts and components and Japanese OEM's. In the future, the Liaison Committee is expected to continue developing mutual understanding and communication among company executives to enhance the global competitiveness of JAMA and MEMA member companies.
In the prior JAMA-MEMA Liaison Committee Meeting, held in May 2002, it was agreed that the JAMA-MEMA “One-on-One” ® Business Conference would be held, for the first time, in Japan in 2003. Moving the Conference to Japan in 2003 was done for the purpose of deepening exchanges among design/development engineers of JAMA member companies and North American suppliers. Following the Liaison Committee Meeting, the 9th JAMA-MEMA “One-on-One” ® Business Conference will be held for two days, on the 21st (Wednesday) and 22nd (Thursday), at the Yokohama Grand Inter-Continental Hotel and the Pan Pacific Hotel in Yokohama. Four-hundred executives representing 12 automakers from Japan and 200 executives representing 33 North American automotive suppliers will participate in the 180 private business meetings that will be held during the Business Conference. In addition, for the first time, the Business Conference will conduct private technical seminars for North American suppliers to discuss their products, services and new technologies with Japanese OEM design/development engineers. The next Liaison Committee Meeting is tentatively slated to take place in the autumn of 2004 at Detroit, together with the next “One-on-One” ® Business Conference.
