Ozma partners with Mileage Communications to support Japanese companies abroad

According to the Ozma’s president and chief executive, Nobuyuki Sakai (pictured), the move is driven by the large number of Japanese companies seeking public relations support abroad.

Mileage Communications has offices in 12 countries regionally, including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as in Singapore.

According to a statement from Ozma, the agreement will enable Ozma to offer Japanese clients expansion plans and strategic communications guidance, combined with local market knowledge from Mileage.

In the statement, Mileage Group chairman Yap Boh Tiong noted that Japanese companies had been active investors in Singapore for a number of years. “We welcome more investment and expansion activities,” he said. “We are delighted to play our part to create awareness and publicity for such companies.”

Yap told Campaign that Mileage also stood to gain new business from the agreement. He pointed to a recent project on behalf of Roland DG, a printer manufacturer, in Bangkok, and plans by companies such as Sapporo to build new plants in Southeast Asian cities such as Ho Chi Minh. He added that Mileage was also in a position to help non-Japanese companies enter the Japanese market.

Looking ahead, Yap said Mileage aspired to become "more pan-Asian". The company is exploring joint-venture possibilities in Korea and Hong Kong, he said.

Ozma was founded 50 years ago and represents both Japanese and multinational clients across a range of sectors, including automotive, healthcare, leisure and tourism, IT and government organisations. Mileage was established in 1992 and works across seven core practices including consume/lifestyle, corporate/finance, IPO, investor relations, healthcare, technology, shipping, crisis management and sports.