Japan

Japan's sogo shosha ITOCHU has established a Global Tech Center (GTC) and formed a partnership with FPT Software, the software contractor under Vietnam's technology giant FPT to drive AI transformation across its overseas group companies.

Japan's JCB International and Malaysia's Fiuu, a payment processing platform formerly known as Razer Merchant Services, have entered into a direct acquiring partnership covering Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, enabling JCB card payments across online and offline merchant channels in the three markets.

Berlin-based multimodal travel booking platform Omio has raised $10 million in a strategic investment from Granite-Integral to accelerate its expansion in Japan and strengthen its presence across Southeast Asia.

The widening gap between AI governance at board and management level and the pace of technological advancement will continue to constrain the speed and scale of enterprise AI adoption in Asia-Pacific,

Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Japan's Electricity and Gas Market Surveillance Commission (EGC) will strengthen collaboration on energy market regulation, promote information exchange on gas and electricity markets, and facilitate knowledge sharing on market surveillance approaches, regulation design, and system stability measures.

Gobi Partners, a pan-Asian investment firm managing $2 billion across more than 30 funds, and Japan's technology firm NTT will jointly explore opportunities in startup matching, business validation, proof-of-concept initiatives, and cross-border commercial engagement between Japan and Southeast Asia.

Thailand has secured more than $4.1 billion in investment pledges across its electric vehicle supply chain, spanning 198 projects covering battery electric vehicles, hybrid systems, battery manufacturing, critical components, and charging infrastructure.

Japan's private equity (PE) market maintained strong momentum in 2025, with deal value reaching JPY4.8 trillion ($29.8 billion), marking the fifth consecutive year that annual deal value exceeded JPY3 trillion, according to Bain & Company's Japan Private Equity Report 2026.

Early-stage investor Antler has unveiled 28 startups from Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia as part of its Asia Regional Portfolio Showcase, highlighting a shift from AI copilots and productivity tools toward autonomous systems capable of independently executing complex tasks.

Japan's Murata Electronics and Signapore-based Tribe, an open innovation platform, have launched KUMIHIMO Tech Camp Singapore 2026, an open innovation programme inviting MedTech startups across ASEAN and India to co-develop healthcare solutions addressing the region's most pressing medical challenges.