(Memphis, TN/October 29, 2008) – Today, former Senator and Ambassador to Japan Howard H. Baker, Jr. announced the launch of a new consulting service, The Japan-U.S. Strategic Advisory. The Baker Advisory serves leading Japanese companies that are investing or expanding their business activities in the U.S., as well as companies seeking a broader strategic outlook for a new political and economic era.
"Japan and the United States remain the world's largest economies and closest allies, but they face new challenges as the 21st century unfolds--in world markets, in international security, in energy security," said Ambassador Baker, who currently serves as Senior Counsel at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. "In a global economy shaken by energy and financial shocks, I'm convinced that we need to bolster our bilateral relationship by encouraging greater economic interaction between our private sectors."
The Baker Advisory will create for each client a "strategic map of the world" focusing on the trends and developments that affect the U.S.-Japan relationship and the business opportunities and risks developing daily around the globe. Ambassador Baker and his advisors will systematically monitor key developments, assess their importance and future impacts, develop scenarios for planning purposes, and provide strategic advice directly to senior business leaders. A key component of the new service is the process of a one-on-one dialogue and exchange of views between Ambassador Baker and business leaders in Japan.
The Baker Advisory utilizes a wide array of advisors including distinguished former officials and experts from the U.S. and Japan. Former Democratic Senator J. Bennett Johnston, who served for 24 years in the U.S. Senate and was the highly respected Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, serves as an advisor. Today Senator Johnston is considered Washington's most influential "wise man" on energy issues. Also serving as advisors are former Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shotaro Yachi, considered one of Japan's most knowledgeable and best connected authorities on the United States, and Professor Shuzaburo Takeda, who has long been a trusted advisor to Ambassador Baker and has an unparalleled network of contacts in government, business and academia in Japan, the United States and globally. Working with experts such as Johnston, Yachi and Takeda, the Baker Advisory provides unique, multi-national perspectives on economic and political developments in Japan, the U.S. and the world. Ambassador Baker has served with distinction in a number of positions in the United States including: U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Chief of Staff to President Ronald Reagan, and as Senate Majority Leader.
Ambassador Baker has been awarded the Medal of Freedom by the President of the United States and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers by the Emperor of Japan.