Govt to spend over 1 trillion yen on bolstering supply chains

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:51 JST, November 5, 2022

The government aims to earmark ¥1.358 trillion in its second extra budget of fiscal 2022 to strengthen the nation’s supply chains of products considered highly important for economic security.

Semiconductors and other specific materials that are highly important for Japan’s economy and the public will be designated by the end of this year at the earliest. The government will offer this financial assistance to companies in order to support their technological developments and production.

Under the guidelines supplementing a law for promotion of economic security, products meeting four criteria such as “essential for survival of the people” will be allocated as specific key products.

In the industrial field, semiconductors, which are used in many products, will be designated because about 80% of them are imported.

As well, it is likely that products essential for digitization such as cloud computing devices, batteries and rare earth elements will also be allocated.