May 18, 2000
My Aspirations as the New Chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
- I feel the time has come when we have to view the general climate in which the Japanese automobile manufacturing industry has to operate from a global perspective and recognize the trends that affect the world as a whole, be it the border-less economy, globalization or the IT revolution.
- Today's Japanese automobile industry differs from the past in that there is an ever-increasing development toward the internationalization of capital and operation. I therefore feel that in the future we at JAMA need to do business by clearly establishing the principles of openness and transparency.
- With the 21st century before us, the issues we have to tackle naturally include the problems of safety and the environment as well as information technology. Nevertheless we also believe that the automobile will remain at the heart of manufacturing also in the coming century and in this sense we want to do our work with an open mind to the possibilities of how we can apply IT to our manufacturing activities.
Running out of the deadline for the Japan-US Automobile Agreement
- This is an issue between the
governments of the two countries. Our Association is not directly involved in
this problem.
We will not want to make any comments on this and feel it is better not to.
Effect on the Automobile Manufacturing Industry of the General Election if it Takes Place in June
- If the general election can contribute to greater political stability I would prefer it to take place as early as possible.
- I do not feel that the outcome
of the election would have any direct effect on the automobile industry.
