TOKYO - Japan launched a council charged with realizing the vision of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's vision of new capitalism on Friday, naming members from an AI entrepreneur to the first woman leader of Japan's largest labor organization.
The council holds its first meeting as early as this month to consider ways to advance Kishida's push for a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution, such as by tax incentives for businesses that raise worker pay. An interim report is due on the end of year.
The new panel features 15 digital and business experts, including seven women. Haruka Mera is the CEO and founder of Readyfor, Japan's first crowdfunding platform.
Kathy Matsui was the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Tokyo Center and is now a general partner at MPower Partners, a venture capital fund founded by former Goldman Sachs Japan Vice Chairman Yumiko Murakami. In April, Tomoko Yoshino became the first woman to lead the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, a Japan trade union federation.
As part of his economic strategy, Kishida aims to create a business environment where small businesses and big corporations can exist and flourish together. He hopes to draw expertise from the female executives on the Council, such as Takako Suwa, president of precision metalworking company Daiya Seiki, and Takuko Sawada, executive vice president of drugmaker Shionogi.
We want participation from people of diverse age groups and backgrounds, Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, told reporters Friday. The council's interim report will be reflected in a fiscal 2022 tax reform proposal and draft budget to be drawn up at the end of this year.
We want to incorporate all of its findings into the new basic economic policy and reform guidelines will finalize next summer, he said.
The Council also includes a group of leaders of Japan's top three business lobbies, as well as the President Z Holdings, Kentaro Kawabe.
Kishida attended a launch ceremony on Friday. This is one of the highlights of the new government, and I hope that the members will work hard to produce visible results, he added.
The Council, which Kishida himself will lead, replaces a council on Yoshihide Suga growth strategy launched under predecessor Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yamagiwa and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno will serve as deputy heads. Economy Minister Koichi Hagiuda, labor minister Shunichi Suzuki and Technology Minister Shigeyuki Goto will sit in on the discussions as well.