Japan unveiled an ambitious goal yesterday to create more than 4 million jobs by 2020 and achieve robust economic growth with steps to boost the tourism, environment and health sectors.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, battling sinking poll ratings and a political fund scandal, unveiled a target of annual economic growth of more than 2 percent, adjusted for price changes, over the next decade.
The government has forecast a 2.6 percent contraction in real GDP in the current fiscal year to March next year.
PHOTO: AFP
His three-month-old government aims to create new demand worth more than ¥100 trillion (US$1.1 trillion), seeking to resuscitate the world’s second largest economy after its worst recession in decades.
It was vague about exactly how it would achieve the lofty goals, saying it would come up with more concrete measures by around June.
It hopes 1.4 million jobs will be created in the environment and energy sectors by encouraging development of new technology, such as fuel-efficient cars, along with an additional 2.8 million jobs in the healthcare sector.
Hatoyama’s government, which took power in September, also plans to develop a new indicator that would gauge how happy people are, reflecting worries that traditional measures such as gross domestic product are becoming obsolete.
Surveys have shown that despite Japan’s status as the world’s second-largest economy, many people are unhappy with their standards of living.
Japan’s jobless rate hit a record 5.7 percent in July. Although it has since retreated somewhat, last month it worsened for the first time in four months, rising to 5.2 percent.
Policymakers are increasingly worried that renewed deflation might threaten the country’s economic recovery prospects.
Hatoyama’s center-left Democratic Party of Japan swept to power in August elections, ousting the long-ruling conservatives.
He has pledged to focus on improving people’s incomes through measures such as increased childcare allowances, rather than aiding big business.
The political blue-blood last week marked a troubled first 100 days in office that has seen his public approval rating sink below 50 percent, compared with more than 70 percent in his first weeks in office.
Last week he apologized after one of his former aides was indicted for allegedly misreporting millions of dollars of political donations.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
RSS