The followings are major statements of Mr. Takashi Imai, Chairman of Keidanren, at a press conference on March 13, 2000(tentative translation).
Japan's GDP of October-December, 1999 is -1.4% compared to one of July-September of the year. This fall, however, is within expectations.
Capital investment of corporations showed a big improvement during the October-December period. This movement should continue because machinery orders have also climbed.
The January-March figure of GDP should largely recover as a reaction of the drop of the last three month of 1999. As a result, Japan's GDP growth in fiscal 1999 should come close to the government target of 0.6%.
In the Keidanren Mission to Southeast Asia1, I look forward to exchanging views on stabilization of exchange rates and expansion of the international use of Japanese Yen with governmental summit leaders, economic ministers, and business people.
1 Keidanren will dispatch a mission to Southeast Asia from March 19 to 26, 2000. The mission, headed by Mr. Imai, Chairman of Keidanren and Chairman of Nippon Steel, will visit Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.