NEC Corp is heeding gaiatsu or pressure from outside Japan, and has announced its NEC Business Global Partnership Plan aimed at increasing the import and use of foreign products, as well as local content ratios at overseas manufacturing subsidiaries, and expanding and reinforcing partnerships with foreign companies: NEC already has five purchasing offices in the US, Europe and Asia and, during the last financial year, imported $900m of products; the company’s current aim is to raise this volume to $1,800m by 1995; specifically, NEC plans to promote the design-in of foreign-made semiconductors in its Japanese-made products and to expand its overseas manufacturing facilities – in 1995, overseas production volume is expected to be $4,100m, nearly twice the current volume; NEC also plans to expand alliances with foreign companies – currently it has co-operative ventures with General Electric Co Inc, AT&T Co, MIPS Computer Systems Inc and Bull SA.
