Award Winners of JFTC Essay Competition 2013

December 13, 2013

Japan Foreign Trade Council, Inc. who sponsors the "JFTC Essay Competition 2013" is very pleased to announce that we received a total of 186 submissions from 49 different nationalities for the competition this year.
After a strict screening of all the essays, the four submissions below have been selected as the winners of the competition in 2013.
We would like to express our congratulations to the winners and thank all participants for taking part.

Selection Committee
Chair	Mr. Atsushi Nakajima, Chairman, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, IAA
Vice Chair	Mr. Junichi Abe, Senior Writer, The Yomiuri Shimbun
Vice Chair	Dr. Keiko Ito, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Senshu University

Remarks by Selection Committee Chair

The Prize for Excellence of 200,000 yen

"Is it possible to replicate Silicon Valley in Japan?"
Mr. Tetsuo Mizunuma (Japan, age 34)

"Japan as a Revitalised Hub: Industries, Policies and Capacity Building Issues"
Mr. Yam Huo Ow (Singapore, age 23)

"Two Innovations – When two innovations merge –"
Mr. Ryuichiro Izumi (Japan, age 23)

The Selection Committee Chair's Special Prize of 100,000 yen

"Reclaiming Japan – Japan as a Cultural Mecca"
Ms. Soo Teng Yong (Malaysia, age 24)

Essay Requirements

Subject	“Japan's policy direction in the global economy － Growth strategy to revitalize the economy and Japan's contribution to the world －”
Language	English or Japanese
Length	No more than 4,000 words (in English) or 10,000 characters (in Japanese)
Deadline	September 13, 2013