Chairman Imai's Press Conference

The followings are major statements of Mr. Takashi Imai, Chairman of Keidanren, at a press conference on November 1, 1999. (tentative translation)

1. The successive fall of unemployment rate^#1 clearly shows Japan's economy reached the bottom and will be heading towards an recovery. The financial stimulus measures are still needed for a while. We cannot avoid that current corporate efforts of business restructuring would lead to higher level of jobless rate. Keidanren, therefore, strongly urges the government to establish a solid safety net for unemployment. In this regard, I highly rate the governmental actions since June this year.

2. Currently proposed nursing care insurance scheme should be officially implemented in April 2000. We should avoid that local authorities concerned will be thrown into confusion. Then, the government should fix problems in the scheme.

3. As per the original plan, eliminating the freeze on the payoff system should be implemented in April 2001. A crucial condition of the elimination is that a financial safety net is appropriately established. The safety net should include the effective usage of the so-called purchase and assumption(P&A) technique.