Japan’s draft growth strategy calls for digitization and a greener society

The Japanese government has called for increasing the country’s economic growth through innovation, which it hopes will lead to an increase in real wages and participation rates, an overview of the growth strategy showed on Wednesday. economic this year.

In the draft plan, the government called for stimulating innovation in areas such as digital transformation, a greener society and the revival of businesses hard hit by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, such as restaurants and hotels.

The Growth Strategy Council, a government panel comprising members of the private sector, presented the broad outlines, which will form part of the government’s economic policy, at a meeting in the Prime Minister’s office.

The government will seek to make the supply chain of automotive production more carbon-friendly and intends to review regulations relating to digital technology, such as the use of artificial intelligence in automobile inspections and sales. of financial products, the plan said.

The government will consider ways to finance the production of goods and technologies that are important to medium and long-term supply chains at an early stage, the plan said.

He also raised the issue of support for research into the design and manufacture of high-tech semiconductors.

The sales share of Japanese companies in the global semiconductor market fell to 10% in 2019, from about half of the total in 1988, while nearly two-thirds of domestic demand for semiconductors was imported from there. ‘foreigner, according to the document.

The government hopes to endorse the final version of this year’s growth strategy through a cabinet decision in mid-June, after taking into account deliberations on the plan by ruling party politicians, a government official.

Other questions the plan called for included the introduction of policies allowing workers to take three days off each week instead of having a two-day weekend, and whether to allow companies to register. via Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) on stock exchanges.

The world’s third-largest economy has struggled to weather the impact of the pandemic, relapsing into contraction in the first quarter as a resurgence of coronavirus infections hit consumer and business spending.

The sharp contraction and prolonged state of emergency restrictions for Tokyo and other major regions have increased the risk that the economy will contract again in the current quarter and fall back into recession, some analysts have said.

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