Kochi Marutaka exports niche expertise in disaster-resilient infrastructure

Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports

Building infrastructure in challenging terrain involves cross-border tie-ups that bring together specialised technologies. When it comes to advanced foundation work for bridges and seaports, Kochi Marutaka has emerged internationally as a partner of choice with proprietary technologies for disaster prevention.

A prized company in Japan’s Kochi prefecture, which has become a centre of disaster mitigation technologies and expertise following forecasts of its vulnerability to a magnitude 8-9 megaquake, Kochi Marutaka is indispensable to the local government’s disaster resilience efforts. The company is among a handful in Japan possessing technologies for large-diameter rock drilling, soil retaining, well excavation work and disaster prevention methods aimed at flood mitigation and navigational purposes.

“Since 1965, we have accumulated the disaster prevention know-how and proprietary technologies by serving the needs of the people of Kochi,” says Ichiro Takano, president. “As we pursued tie-ups for large infrastructure projects throughout Japan, we gained a good reputation for high-quality work. This enabled us to go abroad and introduce our technologies to such places as Uganda, Myanmar and Pakistan.”

Participating in Japan’s development assistance programmes, Kochi Marutaka has expanded its influence throughout Asia by promoting disaster-resilient infrastructure especially in locations exposed to natural hazards such as storm surges, earthquakes and tsunami. The company’s portfolio includes projects in South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.