Washington D.C. 1 / U.S.A.

Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States of America. Although a small city, it has enormous influence.

With a population of 570,000 its area is 68 square miles (176 square kilometers). That is only one-twelfth the size of Tokyo, or about the same size as the small European monarchy of Liechtenstein. Here, you find no automotive assembly plant, no petrochemical refinery, and no steel or textile mill. Not a single one.

Instead, the city houses the White House, the Capitol (the Senate and the House of Representatives), and the Supreme Court. Occasionally you come across a motorcade belonging to President Bush or other heads of state or dignitaries from around the world who visit the White House to see the president. There are many think tanks, lobbyists, lawyers and consultants competing to influence the U.S. government's domestic and foreign policy. Washington, D.C. is a politically charged enclave.

When the president of the United States talks about war against Saddam Hussein, oil and currency traders react, the stock markets run scared, and the marine insurance premium soars. When the president of the United States speaks of increasing aid or imposing sanctions, or expanding the network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with certain countries, international investors plan ahead for the prospect of new business opportunities (or loss of them!). United States policy is fought and formulated in this highly politicized city; and the central focus of the office in Washington, D.C., therefore, is to monitor, analyze and predict this policy.

This is a challenging task. The United States is engaged in so many diverse parts and sectors of the world, and so is Marubeni. Consequently, this office must pay attention to what happens from Asia to Oceania, from the Middle East to Europe, and from Africa to the Americas; it also has to follow developments in areas spanning from trade issues to commodity markets and from international politics to military confrontation.

Yet this is a rewarding job too, as it is only here in Washington, D.C., that you have access to a wide range of authoritative sources, both public and private, which might hold clues, answers and ultimate decision-making powers regarding many of these issues.

One final footnote: another aspect of work here is contact with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), both headquartered in Washington, D.C. In this age of the global economy, a financial crisis in a particular country or region quickly spreads worldwide through the contagion effect. While the two international financial institutions have been criticized for their inability to deal with problems effectively and quickly, they are nonetheless instrumental in assisting the governments and firms of emerging markets, where Marubeni continues to develop a lot of business

Washington, D.C. is a unique town. It inevitably makes the work and function of the Washington, D.C. office unique as well. We are proud of what we do here, because only we, in Washington, D.C., can do it.

-Mike K. Miyazawa *

* Former Vice President, General Manager of Washington, D.C. Office

Established:May 17, 1963

Employees:4 (as of February 2003)

Marubeni quarterly magazine "shosha" VOL.75 (April,2003)

The White House, traditional home and office of the President of the United States. The U.S. Capitol Building-home of the U.S. Congress