Following is the gist of remarks made by Mr. Takashi Imai, Chairman, Keidanren, on the scheduled press conference following monthly Chairman and Vice Chairmen's Meeting on 11 September 2000. Translation is rush and tentative, and sequence of the gist does not necessarily coincide with words delivered.
Regarding Japanese real GDP growth for the second quarter announced today, I think the figure 1% over previous quarter was within public expectations. The growth was achieved largely by public investment while private demand almost remain unchanged. However, public spending is surely to decline because of worsening of local governments' fiscal crisis, even though corporate spending is certain to be on the rise again. The most uncertain factor is private consumption as current increase does not have a specific cause. Therefore I hope the government will draft a supplementary budget of a certain size, with maximum being 2.7 trillion yen. The Bank of Japan should also carefully follow the market as the long term interest rate is on the rise, as well as the value of yen against the dollar.
Regarding MMC recall hiding issue, the Article One of the Keidanren Charter for Good Corporate Behavior calls for its member corporations to "develop and provide socially useful goods and services, giving full consideration to safety." Also, the Article Ten of the Charter calls for top executives of member companies to "resolve the problem, endeavoring to clarify its causes and prevent its recurrence." Following the Snow Brand case in July, I distributed a warning for the members to review their conducts. I regret recurrence.
Regarding Keidanren's merger with Nikkeiren, Mr. Okuda, Chairman of Nikkeiren, and I agreed to obtain organizational approval during the month of September, which will be completed by September 20. After that, we will set up a Merger Preparation Committee comprised of the Committee Chairman, two top secretariat management members each and observers from Chairmen's companies (Nippon Steel and Toyota Motors). The Committee, to be headed by Mr. Fujii, Chairman of Hitachi Zosen, is expected to draft a charter of incorporation, which includes objectives and structures of the new organization, by end of this year. After the Committee report, I expect both organization to prepare merger, by May 2002 at latest.