Return to Construct Hokkaido(More articles in English here.)

94 newly build or expanded business facilities in Hokkaido in FY 2019: sluggish factory expansion

The Department of Economic Affairs of the Hokkaido Government has summarized the number of newly built or expanded business facilities in the prefecture. FY 2019 saw 94 new facilities, which was eight less than the previous year. In order to reduce the risk of simultaneous disasters with the Tokyo metropolitan area, the number of facilities for industrial support services, such as IT companies and call centers, has increased. On the other hand, the expansion of food factories and processing and assembly factories was sluggish, and the total number of newly built or expanded facilities fell below 100 for the first time in five years. Going forward, efforts will be strengthened to attract data centers and satellite offices.

The number of newly built or expanded business facilities in Hokkaido had continued to recover, after bottoming out at 44 in FY 2009 due to the Lehman Shock, and it had exceeded 100 for four consecutive years from FY 2015.

In FY 2019, the number of newly built facilities increased by 16 to 44, but the number of newly expanded facilities was 50, a decrease of 24. The number of Hokkaido based companies that built or expanded facilities in Hokkaido decreased by four to 46, and the number of companies based outside Hokkaido that did likewise decreased by four to 48. Of the total of newly built or expanded facilities, 27 facilities were newly built or expanded due to risk diversification.

By industry, the number of newly built or expanded facilities for industrial support services increased due to the shortage of IT human resources in the Tokyo metropolitan area, risk diversification, and expanded call center demand. There were 24 newly built or expanded business facilities, two more than the previous year, including the opening of a base in Kitami City by Jimoty (Headquarters: Tokyo), which plans and operates goods trading and advertising sites.

More than 30 food factories had been built or expanded annually since FY 2013 for the high-quality food resources of Hokkaido, but in FY 2019, the expansion of agricultural processing factories was sluggish and the number decreased by eight to only 24.

In FY 2019, a number of large processing and assembly factories were built or expanded, but the number of newly built or expanded facilities decreased by eight to 11 due to the sluggish expansion of agricultural processing factories.

In addition to a plant of biomass power generation using wood chips, a logistic facility was also established.

An official of the Industrial Promotion Division expressed a sense of crisis regarding the establishment or expansion of new business facilities in FY 2020 onward, saying “The spread of COVID-19 may cause companies to focus on maintaining their business and weaken their willingness to invest.” In the future, efforts will be strengthened to attract data centers and satellite offices, where the market is expected to grow with the increasing demand for data.

(Excerpt from an article on June 5, 2020)

To the top of the page