And in June, shares of Japanese companies started trading on Nasdaq Japan, which is a joint venture between the US market and Japanese internet company, Softbank.

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It has a joint venture with Teijin, a Japanese company, to develop high-volume production methods for lightweight carbon fiber to improve fuel economy.

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Kurt Hellstrom , CEO of Sweden's beleaguered wireless concern Ericsson (nasdaq: ERICY - news - people ), has thrown a temper tantrum, threatening to bail out of the company's joint venture with Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) if sales of mobile phones don't start picking up soon.

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