Tokyo 2016 has received the support of about 80,000 Tokyo-based businesses following the establishment of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Bid Special Committee by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI). The new committee allows small, medium and large companies to help the city secure the right to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
According to a press release, Tokyo 2016 will utilize TCCI’s extensive business network to further engage businesses and stimulate additional support for the bid, which it says is already backed by more than 70 per cent of the Japanese population.
The new committee will allow the TCCI’s 80,000 members to unite with Tokyo 2016’s bid and share with Japanese society the economic benefits of hosting the 2016 Games in Tokyo.
On its part Tokyo 2016 will play a major role in a variety of events hosted by the TCCI throughout Japan and around the world. The collaboration will include Tokyo 2016’s Athlete Ambassadors speaking at TCCI events where they will communicate the bid’s vision for the Games and describe the many business opportunities that Tokyo 2016 will bring.
The new committee is chaired by Kiyofumi Kamijyo, Vice Chairman of TCCI, while his colleague Yoshihide Watanabe, Vice Chairman of TCCI, will act as Vice Chairman of the special committee along with Tadaharu Goto, an Olympic swimmer at the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Kamijyo said, “I find it very exciting that up to 80,000 of our members are willing to throw their support behind Tokyo 2016’s exciting bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games at the heart of our vibrant capital. The Japanese business community sees Tokyo 2016 as an excellent opportunity, as a result the TCCI are intent on promoting the bid’s advantages to both business and the public across our country”.
Dr. Ichiro Kono, Chairman and CEO of Tokyo 2016 said in the press release, “Tokyo 2016 already enjoys the support of more than 90 million Japanese people. The new committee will allow us to work with some of the most important business figures in Japan who sit in the engine room of our nation. Together we will promote the reality that Tokyo 2016 will not only be a central part of the greatest ever urban transformation, but it will also deliver a tangible economic legacy for the people of Japan”.
