ITO Josei
Vice Chairman, Keidanren
In the 21st century, Japan will become the "grayest" society ever experienced in human history. We must build a society with economic vitality--a society in which everyone can share the joy of living a long life.
Japan's national financial condition, however, has entered into a state of crisis, with deficits totaling about 440 trillion yen as a result of the failure to carry out structural reforms. We can no longer waste a single moment to reform our national financial system.
For the future of our own country, we must act immediately to reform the fiscal structure together with administrative reform and deregulation. There are three measures that must be taken to attain this goal.
The first is to prevent further increases in taxes and social security burdens, in order to maintain economic vitality. We must break a vicious circle in which the rising burdens on the people slow down economic growth, which in turn further increases those burdens.
The second is to improve the social infrastructure, in preparation for an aging society, and to do so strategically and with priority, while efficiently spending the budget. Fiscal expenditures must be distributed effectively so that investment money will go to strategically important areas.
The third is to determine long-term while targets for regaining fiscal health and to take the decisive actions necessary to do so. One prerequisite for this is to adopt thoroughgoing measures for the most-efficient distribution of expenditures, with nothing treated as an untouchable "sanctuary," by clarifying the roles of the private and public sectors, the division of labor between the national and local governments, and the purposes and means of implementation of treasury investment and loan programs.
If these steps are taken, we can build a bright and comfortable aging society in Japan in the 21st century. Fortunately, about 7,000,000 baby boomers are still active, while another 8,000,000 junior boomers--the sons and daughters of the baby boom generation--are about to enter the labor force. Therefore, before Japan's aging reaches its peak in the next 10 to 15 years, let us improve the nation's infrastructure, reduce the financial burdens on the people, and reform the fiscal structure, so that Japan will set an example as an aging society.
Today it is not yet too late; but tomorrow it will be.