Japan PM Sanae Takaichi seeks growth via AI, chips and ships
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Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has assembled the Japan Growth Strategy Council, which held its first discussions late on Nov 10.
PHOTO: AFP
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TOKYO - Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi wants to revive the world’s No. 4 economy by investing in 17 key areas, including artificial intelligence (AI), chips and shipbuilding, government documents showed on Nov 11.
The growth plan, due to be finalised in 2026, is being prepared in parallel with a new stimulus package expected by late November
Ms Takaichi, appointed Japan’s fifth premier in as many years in October at the head of a minority government, has assembled a Japan Growth Strategy Council, which held its first discussions late on Nov 10.
According to documents released afterwards, areas for investment also included defence, drugs, critical minerals, aerospace and space, cyber security, quantum computing and nuclear fusion.
“I ask the relevant ministers to work on securing the necessary supplementary budget and implementing the required tax measures for the contents presented here,” Ms Takaichi told the meeting attended by ministers and experts.
“I also ask you to immediately start with what can be done without waiting for the finalisation of these economic measures,” she said.
Ms Takaichi and US President Donald Trump agreed to promote cooperation in shipbuilding in their meeting late October, while the chip sector is key for also economic security that Ms Takaichi has stressed.
The stimulus package – one of several in recent years – is expected to include measures to ease the pain of rising prices on households.
Anger over inflation was a big factor in a string of poor election results that felled Ms Takaichi’s predecessor Shigeru Ishiba after barely a year in office. AFP
