Member companies of an industry group reported a record 1.81 trillion yen orders received overseas in fiscal 2014, 13.3% up from the year earlier, says the Overseas Construction Association of Japan. The values in Asia and North America grew significantly and orders from local private businesses reached 600 billion yen for the first time in history. Aside from successful promotion, engineering expertise and project management ability of Japanese companies are highly valued by overseas clients and resulted in a significant gain, says an official of OCAJ.

By sector, contracts in private buildings sector held 58% of the total values. Industrial, education, healthcare and housing amounted a substantial percentage, more than 10% each. By region, Asia had the highest values at 1.2 trillion yen, followed by North America at 449.9 billion yen. (2015/05/19)