Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday he has asked a government economic policy panel to prepare “urgent proposals” by early November to enrich his vision of “new capitalism”.
The proposals will include promoting advanced technology for digitalization and de-carbonization, as well as economic security issues including ensuring semiconductor supplies as “top priorities”, Kishida said at the end of the panel’s first meeting.
“We shared the view of aiming to improve productivity through growth strategies and increase the levels of people’s income through redistribution of the fruits” of that growth, Kishida said, reiterating his principle of creating “the virtuous cycle of growth and distribution”, reports Xinhua news agency.
The economic package planned by Kishida may include some measures in the urgent proposals if his party wins a majority in the House of Representatives election as expected, a government official told reporters.
The Prime Minister has pledged an economic package worth “tens of trillions of yen,” or hundreds of billions of dollars, to boost the Covid-19 pandemic-hit economy.
Served as the head of the panel, Kishida will discuss policy measures for economic growth and redistribution of wealth under his “new capitalism” policy along with 15 business leaders, researchers and his cabinet.
The 15 members include seven women, distinguished from the now-defunct growth strategy panel set up by Yoshihide Suga, Kishida’s predecessor, which only had two women out of eight private sector experts.
Among the seven are Tomoko Yoshino, the first female chief of the nation’s largest labour organization Rengo, who took the post early this month, and Yumiko Murakami, former head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Tokyo Centre.
As Kishida promised when he took office on October 4, the panel will focus on issues such as expanding the middle class through salary increases and improving working conditions for non-regular employees and freelancers.
It aims to conclude discussions by June next year to have them reflected in its annual economic policy guideline for the next fiscal year, according to the official.
