TOKYO -- Japan launched Friday a council tasked with realizing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's vision of a "new capitalism," naming members ranging from an AI entrepreneur to the first female leader of Japan's largest labor organization.
The council holds its first meeting as early as this month to discuss ways to advance Kishida's push for a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution, such as through tax incentives for businesses that raise worker pay. An interim report is due out by year-end.
The new panel features 15 corporate, market and digital experts, including seven women. Miku Hirano, CEO of artificial intelligence startup Cinnamon, is an advocate for corporate digital transformation. Haruka Mera is CEO and founder of Readyfor, Japan's first crowdfunding platform.
Yumiko Murakami was 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 established by former Goldman Sachs Japan Vice Chair Kathy Matsui. Tomoko Yoshino this month became the first woman to lead the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo.
As part of his economic strategy, Kishida aims to create a business environment where smaller companies and large 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 at drugmaker Shionogi.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center, hangs the sign for the "new capitalism" council with Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, left, and Seiji Kihara, deputy chief cabinet secretary, on Oct. 15. (Pool photo) "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 to be finalized next summer, he said.
The council also includes the leaders of Japan's top three business lobbies, as well as Z Holdings President Kentaro Kawabe.
Kishida attended a launch ceremony Friday. "This is one of the highlights of the new government, and I hope the members will work hard to produce visible results," he said.
The council, which Kishida himself will lead, replaces a council on growth strategy launched under preceding Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Yamagiwa and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno will serve as deputy heads. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, labor minister Shigeyuki Goto and economy minister Koichi Hagiuda will sit in on the discussions as well.