Keidanren calls for major increase in Japan’s R&D investment
The federation says Japan should move from cost-cutting to investment-led growth, with R&D equal to 5 per cent of nominal GDP.
- The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) has proposed more than doubling the country's combined public and private R&D spending to 50 trillion yen by fiscal year 2040.
- The proposal aims to raise R&D investment to 5% of Japan's nominal GDP, a level comparable to world leaders like South Korea and Israel.
- Keidanren is urging the Japanese government to reflect these recommendations in its national growth strategy, which is due to be drafted this summer.
- The call is part of a broader push for Japan to shift from a cost-cutting mindset to an investment-driven model, and includes a recommendation to establish a new science and technology ministry.
The Japan Business Federation, known as Keidanren, has proposed increasing Japan’s combined public and private research and development spending to 50 trillion yen in fiscal 2040 as part of a push to make the country more science and technology-oriented.
The target would be more than twice the 22 trillion yen recorded in fiscal 2023.
In its strategic proposal released on Monday (May 11), Keidanren said it wants the recommendations to be reflected in the Japanese government’s growth strategy, which is due to be drawn up this summer.
The federation argued that Japan should raise R&D investment to 5 per cent of nominal gross domestic product. It described that level as world-leading and comparable with Israel at 6.4 per cent, South Korea at 5 per cent and the United States at 3.5 per cent.
Keidanren said Japan must make a fundamental shift away from a cost-cutting mindset and towards an investment-driven model, placing greater emphasis on research and development, facilities and human resources.
It also called for the establishment of a science and technology ministry to comprehensively promote activities ranging from basic research to social implementation.
The proposal is “our declaration that private companies actively take action,” Jun Sawada, vice chair of Keidanren and chairman of Japanese telecommunications firm NTT Inc., told a press conference.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
