Greetings for the new year. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all of the member companies, relevant ministries and industry organizations, for their exceptional and continuous support and courtesies to the activities of Japan Construction Machinery Manufacturers Association (CEMA).
At the outset of 2023, we at CEMA renewed our resolve to make further contributions for sustainable development of society. For this cause, we will continue newly devising, transforming, and communicating our activities, under CEMA’s founding philosophy of "contributing to society through harmonization and development" and "symbiosis and competition".
The covid-19 pandemic remained unabated while changing its shape through 2022. This gives us a keen awareness of the need to implement appropriate infection control measures uninterruptedly and reduce the risk of infection. On the other hand, with the concept of “with-covid-era” gradually accepted across Japan, we were able to hold the General Assembly meeting face-to-face in May, for the first time in three years. Responses to covid-19 have varied country by country, but many of you who watched the soccer World Cup held in Qatar last year may have been surprised at the stadiums packed with the audiences, while getting excited by the superb performance of the Japanese national team.
Under such circumstances, CEMA announced in August last year the construction machinery demand forecast for fiscal years (FY) 2022 and 2023, regarding the market trend of construction machinery. The full-year demand forecast for FY2022 is expected to increase by 3% year-on-year, with domestic demand remaining solid and exports continuing to grow. In FY2023, the domestic demand is expected to grow by 2% year-on-year and exports by 5%. Combined, the overall growth is expected to reach 4% year-on-year, for the third consecutive year of increase and to the highest ever level.
We believe that behind this growth lies increasingly vigorous economic activity in the "with-covid" era. At the same time, there are causes for concern — such as negative impact from exchange rate fluctuations, continuous difficulties in parts procurement, logistics disruptions in overseas markets, and the resulting inflation. We have experienced in recent years supply shortages and delays in the markets brought about by the occurrence of new events. CEMA considers it imperative to ensure the stable supply of construction machines, parts and services in achieving its mission of supporting the construction industry that engages in infrastructure development projects across the world. We will make our utmost efforts regarding DX in addition to the existing agenda, and hone our ability to respond to market demand in this unpredictable era.
CEMA will also continue activities for disaster prevention/mitigation and aging infrastructure, as well as in other areas — such as carbon neutrality and other types of environmental and energy conservation; support of the member companies in their global expansion; new technologies including i-Construction; and promotion of computerized construction using ICT, a promising technology to address labor shortages amid aging population and declining birthrates. We would appreciate your continuous support and cooperation in our activities.
I would like to conclude my New Year's greetings by wishing everyone a safe and wonderful year.
Hiroto Honda
Chairman
Representative Director of Caterpillar Japan LLC
