| Success story

Opening a R&D centre in Basel, its first outside of Japan

Location

Basel-Stadt

Industry

Chemicals

Employees

10,000+

Country of origin

Japan

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company, but it also develops and manufactures electronic materials.

The company has opened a research and development centre for organic light-emitting diodes in Basel, its first outside of Japan. Idemitsu chose Basel as a strategic site in the area of electronic materials. Having an R&D location here allowed them to access a world-class resource pool to develop materials for OLED applications. The foundation for the company has been built by leveraging the existing pool of international researchers.

Switzerland is an ideal location for the new R&D centre because it is a global leader in fine chemical synthesis, which is when compounds or new materials are developed out of elements. Researchers from diverse technical backgrounds will develop Idemitsu’s OLED technology in Basel, thus strengthening this business area.

Basel offers a wide range of advantages. Our site in Basel with Germany and France in such close proximity is an ideal location to cooperate with Swiss as well as with European partners. Currently we have people from nine different nationalities working in Basel, which is more culturally diverse than at any other Idemitsu site.

Basel plays a significant role in enabling the globalizing of our business line. The proximity to an airport is a considerable advantage as it enables Asian visitors to Europe to make short visits to Basel as part of their business schedule. We appreciated the flexibility and support from the Basel authorities, who helped us to develop our business here.

Yusuke HayataPresident, Idemitsu OLED Materials Europe AG

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