Minister Vows to Revive Japan’s Shipbuilding Industry

Marugame, Kagawa Pref., Nov. 22 (Jiji Press)–Japanese transport minister Yasushi Kaneko on Saturday underlined the importance of reviving the country’s shipbuilding industry partly by enlarging shipyards. “Unless the site of each shipyard is expanded, the Japanese industry will be left behind China and South Korea,” he told reporters after inspecting industry leader Imabari Shipbuilding Co.’s flagship plant in the city of Marugame in the western Japan prefecture of Kagawa. The company is based in the city of Imabari in neighboring Ehime Prefecture. The government’s comprehensive economic package adopted Friday calls for compiling by year-end a road map for resuscitating the shipbuilding industry with investments totaling about 1 trillion yen from the public and private sectors. It aims to double annual ship production in the country from the current level of roughly 9.1 million gross tons by 2035. Kaneko said it is necessary to invest in the whole manufacturing process in order to substantially expand production capacities. He also showed an eagerness to leverage digital transformation technology to deal with labor shortages. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]