January 14, 2011
JAMA Comments on Launch of New Kan Cabinet
Toshiyuki Shiga, Chairman, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
Japan’s economy continues to stagnate in the face of a number of critical challenges, including yen appreciation and deflation, while the severity of its domestic employment situation remains unabated, with no encouraging signs appearing yet in this regard.
Against this background, JAMA calls on the government, under Prime Minister Kan’s newly restructured Cabinet, to implement Japan’s New Growth Strategy without any further delay. In the quest to revitalize the manufacturing sector—the bedrock of the nation’s economic activity—we also look forward to concerted action in the public sector to stabilize foreign exchange rates, promote free trade and economic partnership agreements, and otherwise advance the measures needed to put Japan back on an equal footing with the rest of the world.
At the same time, we are pleased that the government’s tax reform outline for fiscal 2011 advocates major revisions to Japan’s automobile tax regime from the standpoints of “simplification, eco-friendliness, and burden reduction,” and hope that the coming months will see concrete steps being taken to implement these and other urgent reforms.
