Biz leaders pin hopes on Abe’s new government

November 2, 2017

TOKYO- Heads of major Japanese business lobbies pinned high hopes Wednesday on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new government.

"I want the prime minister to show strong political leadership by accelerating his Abenomics economic policy mix, implementing growth measures, building a new social security system focusing on all generations, and promoting fiscal consolidation," Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, said in a statement.

Keidanren will fully support the Abe administration's implementation of its policy measures, he added.

Abe was reelected prime minister in votes Wednesday in the Diet, Japan's parliament, and launched his new cabinet later in the day, following his ruling Liberal Democratic Party's sweeping victory in the Oct. 22 general election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of the Diet. Abe kept all cabinet ministers in their posts.

In a separate statement, Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Akio Mimura called on the Abe administration to "decisively carry out structural reforms to help dispel people's concerns over the future."

He also urged the government to boost the country's growth potential with measures to overcome labor shortages and improve productivity, and to take measures to support small and midsize companies.

Yoshimitsu Kobayashi, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, or Keizai Doyukai, issued a statement expressing his hope that the Abe government will "steadily produce results in important policies concerning the economy and the security of people, and show a path to creating a society where young generations can have hopes for their future."

Meanwhile, Kobayashi said he hopes that policy debates will be held in a way that is easily understandable to the public. Jiji Press