Japan

About the Group

Objective

The Market Advisory Groups (MAG) will be established as expert panels to review the status of British Columbia’s current commercial relations with select markets in the Asia Pacific and to prepare specific recommendations on actions to increase commercial engagement.

Tactics

Market Advisory Groups will, through special investigations and the creation of regional and select sector-focused working groups, prepare recommendations to government in areas of importance to increasing British Columbia’s commercial success in the designated region.

Market Advisory Groups will focus on areas (sectors, regions, issues and projects) where the actions of the British Columbia government can help to increase the flow of commerce with the specified market.

Market Advisory Groups will meet as required to prepare workplans, conduct investigations, evaluate the findings and recommendations of working groups, prepare interim reports and to produce a final report and recommendations for the consideration by the Asia Pacific Trade Council.

Market Advisory Group Structure

Each Market Advisory Group will consist of an appointed Chair and approximately nine other members recommended by the Chair (appointments subject to Council approval).

It is anticipated that Market Advisory Groups will establish a number of expert working committees to provide detailed analysis and recommendations covering priority sectors.

Market Advisory Groups will be supported by the Asia Pacific Secretariat, which is staffed by the Ministry of Economic Development. Additional support for the Market Advisory Groups will be provided via the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada under a grant from the Province of British Columbia.

Members

John Powles (Chair)

Managing Partner, Pacific Bizlinks Trade Consultants

John spent 18 years with the Federal Government, working in several departments and a Crown Corporation including External Affairs (Foreign Affairs) and the Canada Harbour Place Corporation. Following this, he joined the Council of Forest Industries (COFI) in 1987 as the Tokyo-based Manager, Asia and director of Japan Operations . In 1995 he was appointed COFI's Vice President of Markets/ Trade in Vancouver. Since 1998, he has headed Pacific Bizlinks Trade Consultants, specializing in business planning, export market development and executive recruiting. His other involvements include chairing the building products sector for the 1999 Prime Minister’s Team Canada Japan trade mission, directing the secretariats for the Kansai-Canada West Business Forum (Kyoto 2000) and the Cundill Investment Research Conference (Kyoto 2002) and becoming co-project coordinator for the design-build of Canada’s pavilion at the 2005 Aichi World Exposition (Nagoya, Japan). He has been active in the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan (CCCJ), was appointed the first Canadian representative to the Japanese Prime Minister's Import Advisory Board, was a former President of the Canada-Japan Society of BC and an advisor to the federal Secretary of State (Asia Pacific). John is currently a director of Maynards Japan, co-chair of the Nitobe Garden Advisory Council (UBC) and is on the external advisory boards for Xylon Biotechnologies and the McRae Institute for International Management at Capilano College. John speaks English, Japanese and French.

Donald Bell

Partner, Corporate and Commercial Law Practice Group, Davis & Company LLP

Don Bell is a partner in the Vancouver and Tokyo offices of Davis & Company LLP, working in the Corporate and Commercial Law practice group. Don joined Davis & Company in 1993 and advises on a broad range of business law matters including corporate structuring, mergers & acquisitions, limited partnerships and joint ventures to name a few. As a member of Davis & Company's Japan Group, he works extensively with Japanese businesses, and with Canadian businesses involved in commercial activity relating to Japan. Before his legal career, Don worked for several years for a Japanese electronics manufacturer and a business consulting company. In addition to his work, Don is a member of several committees within Davis & Company, the Canada-Japan Society and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan. A member of the bars of British Columbia and New York, he is also Chair of the Vancouver Chapter of the New York State Bar Association International Law and Practice Section and a previous Director of the National Nikkei Heritage Centre Society.

Michael Brown

Chairman, Chrysalix Energy Management Inc.

Michael Brown was a co-founder and is Chairman of the Board, Chrysalix Energy Management Inc., a Vancouver-based, internationally funded venture capital fund specializing in "preferred energy solutions", especially fuel cells and hydrogen. He was previously Co-founder (in 1968) and up to March 1999 the President of Ventures West Capital Ltd., one of Canada's largest private sources of capital for early-stage technology companies. Michael has extensive knowledge of the fuel cell industry, market trends, VC financing, recruitment, building valuable companies within this sector and IPO assistance. He has been directly involved in several companies in the fuel cell/energy technology space. Notably, he was the first venture investor in Ballard Power Systems, Inc. in 1987 and remained on its Board until 1998. He is a Director of Cellex Power Products, Inc., and was former director of Questair Technologies Inc, and Greenlight Power Technologies, Inc. He was also the Chair of MDI Mobile Data International Inc., served as a Director of MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates Ltd. and several other public companies. He was a founder and is a Director of Fuel Cells Canada. Michael is a published author in sustainable development technology, and lectures widely on both that topic and venture capital. A graduate from UBC in Honours Economics, he also attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Don Demens

General Manager Whitewood, International Forest Products (Interfor)

During his career at Interfor, Don has held a number of senior positions in Marketing, Operations and Sales. In his current position, he is responsible for 2 manufacturing plants and the sales and marketing organization, including offices in Japan and China. Most recently, Don has been responsible for implementing corporate strategic plans designed to reposition the coastal whitewood business. He has also developed and implemented a coordinated marketing and operations plan for his business unit and has revitalized a specialty products division. He has done extensive work marketing structural products to world markets, including a focus on developing the Japan market. From 1991 to 1997, he was General Manager at Interfor Japan in Tokyo and a Marketing Manager for Japanese Traditional Products. Previous to Interfor, Don has held positions at Seaboard Lumber Sales Company Limited, specializing in sales to the Japanese market. Don holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia.

Bill Dewinetz

President, Pacific Rim Cabinets Ltd.

Bill was a founding member of Merit Kitchens in 1971 and during his 28 years there he took on many responsibilities starting as factory manager and than later establishing retail showrooms across western Canada. In the early 1980’s he turned his attention to Japan and over a ten year span developed both dealer and direct builder sales through out the entire country. Bill founded Pacific Rim Cabinets in 1997, leading it quickly to become the largest Canadian exporter of cabinets to Japan. Bill has been an active member of the woodworking industry serving on many boards including BC Wood for 5 years and as chairman for one term. He is currently on the National Advisory Board for Woodlinks, he is serving as Chair of the Technology Transfer Program run by Forentic at UBC and will participate later this year in the first standards meeting being held by the National Kitchen and Bath Association.

Robert Fairweather

Executive Director, International Financial Centre

Robert Fairweather is a former Canada Trade Commissioner with decades of business development experience including overseas postings in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Japan and Korea. He served as head of the Embassy’s Commercial Division in Japan. Upon leaving government service in 1991, he became the Resident Manager of one of Canada's leading investment firms as its Director of Investment Banking. In 1996, he joined a financial advisory firm, as its representative for British Columbia. In October 2002, he became President of the International Financial Centre, Vancouver. Bob is active in the community, and has served numerous organizations in various key roles, including Director of Powerex (a subsidiary of BC Hydro), Director of Computershare Trust Company of Canada, Director of UBS Bank (Canada), Chair of the Canuck Place Foundation and as a Board member for the Vancouver Foundation. Previously, he has served as President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade, President of The Canada-Japan Society of British Columbia, Interim Chair of BC Hydro Corporation, and a Campaign Cabinet Member of the United Way of the Lower Mainland.

Haig Farris

President, Fractal Capital Corporation

Haig Farris is President of Fractal Capital Corporation, a private venture capital company financing high technology start-ups and resource service technology companies. Previously Haig was the co-founder and partner of the Ventures West Management group; the largest venture capital pool in Western Canada. His venture management experience includes finding, financing and developing high-technology participate and corporate turn-around opportunities. In 1968, Haig co-founded the financial consulting firm Brown, Farris & Jefferson Ltd., where he specialized in financial services relating to going public, raising equity capital and financially analyzing business opportunities. Haig is also an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia teaching graduate engineering, science and MBA students.

Steve Halliday

Senior Vice President, Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver Director and President

Since 1984, Steve has been with Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts. Currently he is Senior Vice President at the Pan Pacific Vancouver (formerly owned by Tokyu Corporation of Japan), a 5-diamond hotel with over 500 rooms. He has also been Director and President, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts America Inc. In conjunction with his Vancouver duties, he has been responsible for overseeing 5 North American operations and the development of new properties in the region. Most recently, he was involved in the contract negotiation achieved in Seattle with owner Paul Allen (opening September 2006). Steve has also had some experience working in Asia as General Manager, at the 800-room Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore, as Director and Vice-President, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts Pte. Ltd. Singapore and was assistant to the President. From 1990 to 1995, Steve was Executive Vice-President of Operations and Marketing in Costa Mesa, California, the headquarters for global operations of 15 hotels. In 1984, he was hired as the Opening General Manager of the Pan Pacific Vancouver, facilitating the pre-opening for the 1986 World Expo. Prior to his career with Pan Pacific, Steve was with Westin Hotels as Resident Manager of the Toronto operation and General Manager for the Westin Edmonton. He has also served as former Deputy Chairman for Tourism Vancouver and Deputy Chairman for the Celebration of Light.

Gordon Kadota

President & Chief Executive Officer, Canaway Consultants Ltd/ OK Gift Shop

Gordon Kadota entered the travel business in 1961 and specialized primarily as a Travel Wholesaler and Tour Operator. Although widely travelled to many parts of the world, his major concentration was the development of travel between Canada and the Pacific Rim countries. He has conducted many study tours and seminars for both Canadian and overseas travel agents. A wide association with various business concerns across the Pacific led to the formation of Canaway Consultants in 1973, a company that specializes in providing consultation and coordination services to businesses in both Canada and Japan. In that same year, in partnership with Kyosen Ohashi, he founded O.K. Gift Shop Ltd. which currently has retail outlets in Vancouver, Banff, Niagara Falls and joint venture stores in New Zealand and Australia. In community and volunteer work, Gordon has served on numerous tourism boards and missions since 1965, as well, he has been involved in the Japanese Canadian community since 1955 serving both at the local and national levels. Most recently, he served as the President of the National Nikkei Heritage Centre Society, an organization that is undertaking to build a 20 million dollar multi-complex community facility in Burnaby.

Steve Kaufmann

President, KP Wood Ltd.

Steve Kaufmann grew up in Montreal. After two years at Montreal’s McGill University, he went to France where he obtained a Diplome from l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. In 1966 he entered the Canadian Foreign Service, as a Trade Commissioner. Steve was posted to Hong Kong from 1968 to 1970 and then served in Japan from 1971 to 1974. While at the Embassy in Tokyo, Steve was heavily involved in developing markets for Canadian forest products. In 1974 he left the diplomatic service and stayed in Tokyo to establish and run Seaboard Timber and Plywood Asia on behalf of Seaboard Lumber Sales of Vancouver. In 1980 he went back to Japan to set up MacMillan Bloedel Asia Ltd on behalf of MacMillan Bloedel of Vancouver. In 1987 he founded his own company, KP Wood Ltd which today has offices in Japan, Sweden and Canada. Steve speaks fluent Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese as well as six European languages. He has written a book on language learning and in 2002 he established The Linguist Institute Ltd., an online language learning system with users in over 20 countries around the world.

Dr. Joseph Kess

Professor of Linguistics, University of Victoria

Dr. Kess is the Chair in Japan & Asia-Pacific Relations at the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives and Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Victoria, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Professor Kess' research interests include psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and the relationship between language, ethnicity, and the discourse of identity, and he has worked on a wide variety of languages from diverse settings: His main applied interests have been in the sociolinguistic dimensions of language policies and language legislation which have served to enhance language maintenance or language shift in bilingual and multilingual settings. All told, in the totality of his 40-year academic career he has written, co-authored, or co-edited fourteen books or monographs, over two dozen book chapters, and over 200 articles, reviews, and other contributions, and given over 300 professional presentations. On the non-research side, his teaching has been recognized by his having been awarded the Faculty of Humanities Award for Teaching Excellence. He has written numerous evaluations for agencies such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Killam Fellowships, the National Science Foundation in the USA, as well as university and trade presses. He served for over a half-dozen years on both the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, acting in the capacity of both Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Aid to Scholarly Publications Committee. His most recent appointment has been to the Chair in Japan & Asia-Pacific Relations at the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, where he has continued with his research on the past history and future directions in script reform in Japan, as well as contrasting language legislation and public policy in Japan and Canada. While at the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, he has organized numerous conferences, roundtables, symposia, and workshops, the most notable of which have been the 2002 conference on Changing Japanese Identities and the 2004 Japan Studies Association Conference for the Anniversary Year of Japan/Canada relations. He is now planning a major international symposium on the evolving state of Japan-China relations for March of 2007.

Kazuko Komatsu

President & Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Western Brewing Company

Currently, Kazuko Komatsu is President & CEO of Pacific Western Brewing Company. When Pacific Western Brewing (PWB) was in danger of being shut down by its owners in 1990, she purchased the brewery from Potters Distillers and expanded the brewery’s operations through domestic and international marketing. Prior to this, she was responsible for forming Natureland Products Ltd., a company developing and marketing specialty health supplements and beverages and had also founded Kowa Canada Ltd, Nika Marketing Corporation and Royal Canadian Homes, companies which specialize in exporting log homes and building products to Japan. Previously, she had also been involved as an agent for a Japanese industrial gas company. In addition to her corporate pursuits, Kazuko has served in a variety of capacities including as a Board of Governor for Royal Roads College, a member of the Advisory Board of Team Canada on trade policy and market access, Board member for the UNBC Foundation, member of the Endowment Investment Committee, member of the President’s Special Advisory Committee of UNBC, Council member of the Canadian Agri-Food Marketing council, Chair of the Japan-Canada Chamber of Commerce and as a Board member for the Vancouver Port Authority.

Stephen Kukucha

Director, External Affairs and Government Business Development, Ballard Power Systems

In his role, Stephen is responsible for Ballard’s external relationships, for coordinating Ballard’s industry affairs (association and partnership activity), for coordinating codes and standards development at Ballard and working with the legal department on employment, labor and litigation matters. His external involvements include work with the California Fuel Cell Partnership, as a Director for Fuel Cells Canada (FCC) and Chair of FCC’s Government Relations Committee. His previous positions include Chair of the Core Committee for the Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance, Director of the National Hydrogen Association and Director of the US Fuel Cells Council. Prior to joining Ballard, Steve held positions with the Federal Government (Senior Advisor to the Minister of Environment), KPMG (Management Consultant) and the law firm Farris, Vaughn, Wills and Murphy (Associate specializing in labour and employment law). Steve holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of New Brunswick.

Angela Nakamura - Hollinger

Principal, CeCan Business Development

Angela Nakamura-Hollinger is principal of CeCan Business Development, a Vancouver-based management-consulting firm. Ms Nakamura-Hollinger focuses on facilitating partnerships between Canadian and Japanese companies for the Japan market. Her primary areas of expertise are information technologies, fuel cell technologies, other high-tech fields and tourism. She teaches International Trade and runs an internship program at Arbutus College, occasionally briefs Japanese Government officials regarding BC’s emerging Fuel Cells Industry. Ms Nakamura-Hollinger was the first Japan-born female to serve as a president of CyPost Corporation, a public company, in Vancouver's high-tech industry, a field in which she has worked in several management roles. She has also utilized her bilingual skills and understanding of business culture to manage the Japanese subsidiaries of international firms. Ms Nakamura-Hollinger majored in Philosophy and Theology at Seisen Women’s University in Tokyo. She first came to Canada in 1987 and made Vancouver her home in 1998. Currently a Director of the Canada-Japan Society of B.C. and a former chair of the Japanese Community Volunteers’ Association, she is active in the Japanese-Canadian society in Vancouver.

Andrew Stonkus

Vice President, Concentrate Marketing, Teck Cominco Limited.

Since 1988, Andrew has been with Teck Cominco, a world leader in zinc, copper and lead mine production. Currently, he is responsible for world-wide concentrate marketing and sales requiring him to travel extensively, specifically to Japan, South Korea, China and throughout Europe. For the past 11 years, he has expanded Teck Cominco’s zinc/lead/copper/molybdenum concentrate business in China and has been exploring new opportunities for direct business. Since 1989, he has also conducted business in Japan, marketing concentrates from three of Teck Cominco’s mines situated in North and South America. Andrew has been a Registered Professional Engineer of Ontario since 1982 and has a degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science from McMaster University.

Richard Takai

Department Manager - Chemicals, Mitsubishi Canada Ltd.

Richard is currently the Department Manager, Chemicals, in the Vancouver office of Mitsubishi Canada Ltd. The Chemicals Group is the largest Group within Mitsubishi Canada and handles a wide range of commodity and functional chemicals including sodium chlorate, potash, salt, acrylic sheets, nutraceutical and egg products, and components for fuel cells. He has been with Mitsubishi for approximately 5 years. Prior to this, he worked for Tomoku Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan, in their Tokyo, Los Angeles and Vancouver operations. Tomoku is a Japanese manufacturer whose divisions include packaging, and housing. Richard was originally hired to oversee one of Tomoku’s projects for developing a prefabricated housing factory near Vancouver. Born and raised in Vancouver, Richard has a Bachelor of Science from UBC and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Victoria.

Henry Wakabayashi

Chairman & Director, Pacific Liaicon & Associates Inc. (SNC-Lavalin)

Henry Wakabayashi, BASc, P.Eng, O.B.C. has over 40 years of experience in engineering and project management. On graduation in chemical engineering from UBC in 1958, Mr. Wakabayashi went to work for Mitsubishi Shoji Kaisha Ltd., Vancouver for 10 years, during the formative years of Canada-Japan trade. During that period, he was instrumental in the sale of major hydro electric equipment to BC Hydro's Peace River Hydro Project and also in the conceptualization and construction of the first Canadian-Japanese joint venture pulp mill, Crestbrook Forest Industries Ltd. in Cranbrook, BC. In 1970, he established Pacific Liaicon Ltd. to provide project management services to private industrial projects, primarily in the pulp and paper industry, and, later, to major public sector projects. Mr. Wakabayashi has been responsible for conceiving and leading the development, total project management and implementation of some of BC's most important public infrastructure projects, including the North East Coal Development, the first phase of Vancouver's SkyTrain and the ongoing Vancouver International Airport Expansion and Enhancement Projects. He has been directly involved in over $10 billion (in 2002 dollars) of project work, worked as the Project Manager and Owner's Representative on over 25 projects, and been entrusted with budgets for single projects up to $850 million. Mr. Wakabayashi is highly regarded within the business community for his track record of completing projects to high quality standards, on budget, on time, and with a commendable safety record. As Senior Advisor of Business Development in the SNC-Lavalin Transportation Division, Mr.Wakabayashi is responsible for marketing Pacific Liaicon's expertise in all aspects of infrastructure projects. In 2001/2002, he was instrumental in successfully negotiating a 65-year concession with Malta International Airport and is currently Executive Advisor to British Columbia Ferry Services. He also continues to act as Chairman and Director of Pacific Liaicon and, as such, oversees all its business endeavours.