成長戦略 民間活力の爆発で日本再生を

The Yomiuri Shimbun June 7, 2013
Utilizing power of private sector key for 'third arrow' to hit target
成長戦略　民間活力の爆発で日本再生を（6月6日付・読売社説）

　◆「３本目の矢」を的中させよ

Will Abenomics really be able to boost the competitive power of domestic companies and rejuvenate Japan’s economy? Can Japan win in the global market? The true value of the Abe administration’s economic policies will be finally tested.
　企業の競争力を高め、世界に勝てる日本経済へ再生できるか。安倍政権の経済政策「アベノミクス」が、いよいよ真価を問われる。

On Wednesday, the government’s Industrial Competitiveness Council finished compiling a draft of the administration’s growth policy, which is touted as the “third arrow” of Abenomics. Now almost all the elements of Abenomics have been revealed to the public.
　政府の産業競争力会議が５日、アベノミクスの「３本目の矢」である成長戦略の素案をまとめた。これで具体的な政策メニューは、ほぼ出そろった。

On the same day, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a speech on the growth strategy at a hotel in Tokyo, stipulating deregulation as the heart of his economic reforms. Abe expressed his resolve to rebuild the nation’s economy, citing the “eruption of the private sector’s vitality” as a key factor of his growth strategy.
　安倍首相は成長戦略について講演し、規制緩和を改革の「一丁目一番地」と位置付けた。「民間活力の爆発」をキーワードに日本経済を立て直す決意を示した。

In his speech, Abe also revealed the mid- and long-term goals of his economic policies, such as increasing per-capita gross national income by 1.5 million yen over the next decade.
　１人当たりの国民総所得を１０年後に１５０万円増やすなど、中長期的な目標も掲げている。

Full picture of Abenomics
　◆メニューは出そろった

The growth strategy has three pillars: to restore the nation’s industries, strategically create new markets and help Japan’s businesses expand abroad. After Abe’s speech, the Tokyo Stock Exchange plunged due to criticism including the notion that the growth strategy lacked originality, but we believe the growth strategy is pointed in the right direction.
　政府の成長戦略は「産業再興」「戦略市場創造」「国際展開」が３本柱である。５日の東京株式市場では、内容に新味がないとの見方などから株価が急落したが、戦略の方向性は妥当だ。

Regarding the goal of restoring the nation’s industries, the government will designate the next five years as an emergency period for structural reforms, focusing on measures such as utilizing the untapped potential of the female labor force and promoting private investment.
　産業再興は、今後５年間を緊急構造改革期間と定め、女性の人材活用や、民間投資促進などの施策を重点的に実施する。

The centerpiece of the measures is a plan to create “national strategic special deregulation zones,” which Abe revealed Wednesday. The plan aims to create cosmopolitan cities that attract companies and talented workers from all over the world by boldly relaxing regulations in the special zones.
　首相が打ち出した「国家戦略特区」はその目玉といえる。大胆な規制緩和を断行し、世界から企業や人材が集まる国際都市をつくる構想だ。

We urge the government to swiftly prepare concrete measures to materialize the plan, so Japan will become a country that provides the best working environment for companies.
　日本を「世界で一番企業が活躍しやすい国」とするため、具体化を急ぐ必要がある。

Regarding the goal of strategically creating new markets, the government plans to find and nurture new business opportunities from problems facing Japan, such as the stagnant birthrate, graying of society and aging social infrastructure. It also targets the nation’s medical industry, which is lagging behind foreign competitors, and its agricultural industry, which suffers from low productivity. The agricultural industry has long been urged to enhance its international competitiveness.
　戦略市場創造は、少子高齢化やインフラの老朽化など日本が抱える課題を逆手に取り、新たなビジネス育成を目指す。海外に後れを取っている医療産業や、生産性が低く、国際競争力の強化が急務の農業などがターゲットだ。

On deregulation, the growth strategy includes a plan to lift a ban on the online sales of nonprescription drugs. The government also intends to expand the scope of so-called mixed treatments, a combination of medical practices covered in part by public health insurance and in part by patients, which is currently limited to exceptional cases. We believe these measures will lead to important progress.
　規制改革では、市販薬のインターネット販売解禁や、保険診療と保険外診療を併用できる範囲の拡大が打ち出された。一定の前進として評価できる。

Japan now faces many difficulties. But let’s turn misfortune into blessings by riding the wind of such deregulation measures and combining the wisdom and innovation of the government and the private sector.
　政策支援を追い風に、さらに官民の知恵や工夫を結集し、ピンチをチャンスに変えたい。

Joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade framework will be the first step in promoting the overseas advancement of Japanese businesses. The government needs to work hard to make up for the lack of progress in commerce policies.
　国際展開では、環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）への参加が、その第一歩となる。出遅れた通商政策を挽回しなければならない。

Japan’s domestic market has begun to shrink due to the declining population. In such a situation, it is essential for the nation to attract foreign demand to sustain economic growth by boosting infrastructure-related exports, such as nuclear power plants and Shinkansen bullet trains.
　人口減で国内市場が縮小している日本が成長を維持するには、原子力発電所や新幹線などインフラの輸出を加速し、海外の需要を取り込むことも不可欠だ。

Beef up control tower functions
　◆司令塔の強化が必要だ

All the numerical targets Abe has revealed--including 70 trillion yen in private capital investment, 30 trillion yen in infrastructure exports and 35 trillion yen in direct investment to Japan by foreign companies--are ambitious and lofty goals.
　「民間投資７０兆円」「インフラ輸出３０兆円」「対日直接投資３５兆円」――。首相が次々に挙げた政策別の数値目標は、どれも野心的な高い目標である。

His enthusiasm appears genuine, but such goals are meaningless if they end up as empty promises. The Abe administration must steadily carry out measures to achieve its goals and produce real results.
　意気込みは頼もしいが、「空手形」では意味がない。着実に実行し、成果を出すことが大切だ。

Achievements were made in less than 10 percent of the policy measures stipulated in the New Growth Strategy two years after it was adopted by the administration of then Prime Minister Naoto Kan in June 2010. A well-detailed timetable that listed when each goal was to be achieved, for instance, was just window dressing.
　菅内閣が２０１０年６月に決めた「新成長戦略」は、２年後に成果を出せた施策が１割に満たなかった。達成時期などを示した綿密な工程表も見かけ倒しだった。

The same mistake should not be made again. The management capabilities of the Prime Minister’s Office should be reinforced to block resistance from individual ministries and avoid jurisdictional disputes among ministries over deregulation measures.
　同じ轍(てつ)を踏んではならない。官邸の司令塔機能を強化し、規制緩和に対する各府省の抵抗や縄張り争いを監視すべきだ。

Abe said his Cabinet will verify every year the level of achievement of each policy, based on new indicators. If a policy is found to be behind the timetable, the administration will not casually lower the target, but introduce additional measures to achieve the goal. We urge the administration to review the programs continually and improve its measures to achieve goals whenever necessary.
　安倍内閣は毎年、政策の達成度を新たな指標で検証するという。進行が遅れた場合は目標を安易に下げず、達成への追加策を講じる仕組みとする。事業を不断に見直し、改善してもらいたい。

We are concerned, however, because many policy measures demanded by business circles were not included in the growth strategy.
　気がかりなのは、経済界が要望したのに盛り込まれなかった政策が目立つことである。

For example, businesses sought a reduction in the corporate tax rate, which is higher than those of other major countries, and drastic agricultural reform, including lifting the ban on the possession of farmlands by corporations. However, these measures were shelved.
　例えば、他の主要国より高い法人税率の引き下げや、企業による農地所有の解禁などの抜本的な農政改革は見送られた。

The House of Councillors election is just around the corner and a hike in the consumption tax rate is scheduled for April next year. In this situation, Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party probably wanted to avoid policies that could prove unpopular with voters.
　参院選や来年４月の消費税率引き上げを控え、有権者の反発を招きかねない政策を避けたかったという事情もあろう。

However, to break the nation’s economic deadlock, the administration needs the determination to bravely challenge the barrier of vested interests. We hope the Abe administration will accelerate discussions on pending issues that it put off dealing with.
　だが、日本経済の閉塞状況を打破するには、既得権益の壁に果敢に挑む決意が要る。先送りした懸案の議論を加速してほしい。

To improve the efficacy of the growth strategy, it is important for the Abe administration to improve individual policy measures as well as remove barriers to hamper the economic activities of the private sector.
　成長戦略の実効性を上げるには、個々の政策の充実はもとより、民間の経済活動を妨げる障害を除去することが重要となる。

Stable power supply essential
　◆電力安定は経済の礎

After the launch of the current Abe Cabinet, the hyper-appreciation of the yen that had afflicted the Japanese economy was corrected. However, many issues still remain unsolved.
　安倍内閣の発足後、日本経済を苦しめてきた超円高は是正されたが、課題は山積している。

The shortage of power is a particularly serious problem. As the fuel costs for thermal power stations snowball, national wealth continues to steadily flow out of the country and power rate hikes go on.
　特に電力不足は深刻だ。停止している原発を代替する火力発電所の燃料費が膨らみ、国富流出と電気料金の値上げが止まらない。

Electricity is the lifeblood of the economy. Unless the days of stable supply of inexpensive electric power return, it will be difficult to achieve stable growth in the economy.
　電気は経済の血液である。安価な電力の安定供給を回復しない限り、安定成長は難しい。

In that sense, it is natural for the administration to have clarified in the growth strategy that the “entire government will make maximum efforts” to reactive idle nuclear reactors after their safety is confirmed.
　安全を確認できた原発の再稼働に「政府一丸となって最大限取り組む」との方針を、成長戦略に明記したのは当然である。

The government must take the initiative to explain the necessity of this policy to local governments hosting nuclear power plants and make its utmost effort to realize a stable supply of electricity.
　政府は率先して立地自治体の説得にあたり、電力安定供給の実現に全力を挙げるべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 6, 2013)
（2013年6月6日01時21分  読売新聞）