British and Japanese Assocs Launch Formal Partnership

The MRS has formalised its close ties with its Japanese counterpart the JMRA via a new partnership agreement.

The associations say the deal follows 'many years of co-operative working and the continuous sharing of information'. Specific terms mean members of each can join the other at a 10% discount, while there are exemptions from any joining fees, and Official Members of the JMRA (Japan Marketing Research Association) can become MRS Company Partners.

Japan is the world's seventh largest research market, according to this year's ESOMAR statistics; and JMRA is the only association representing it, with 80% of research agencies as members. The partnership, the MRS' first with a research association based in Asia, will initially run for three years and will be reviewed annually. It follows alliances last August with the Insights Association in the US, and The Research Society in Australia.

JMRA Chairman Shunichi Uchida comments: 'I am convinced that this partnership with MRS will support JMRA and its member companies more than ever to the global marketplace and provide new guidance for overcoming the challenges in this environment'. MRS Chief Exec Jane Frost adds: 'Our International Tripartite agreement - with The Research Society and Insights Association - has already resulted in a number of important initiatives, including our collaboration on using corporate language to showcase the benefits of insight. I'm confident that our new partnership with the JMRA will be similarly successful and that many of our members will benefit from us working together'.

Web sites: www.mrs.org.uk and www.jmra-net.or.jp/Portals/0/aboutus/en .