Japanese startups need to make Asian push: conference panelists

Panelists discuss the rise of entrepreneurship in Asia.

TOKYO -- With entrepreneurship sweeping across Southeast Asia and China, Japanese business ventures should waste no time expanding into the region and getting a piece of the action, according to panelists at an annual startup conference here.
     A panel discussion on the investment environment for Southeast Asian startups highlighted prepaid settlement and other services offered by startups. The region's fledgling companies are narrowing the gap in market value with their Japanese counterparts, panelists said at Startup Asia Tokyo, a two-day event that wrapped up Thursday.
     In a speech, Adways Chief Executive Officer Haruhisa Okamura told the audience how the mobile advertising agency overcame a post-IPO earnings slump and pursued expansion into China.
     "Asia may get more momentum than in Japan," Okamura stressed. "We're using tie-ups to develop business with the aim of becoming No. 1 in smartphone marketing."
     The event, hosted by business news website Tech in Asia, drew more than 1,000 people.