Japan plans to set up a ┬е500 billion ($4.4 billion) fund aimed at supporting firms developing vaccines for infectious diseases and new drugs, under the first economic package to be drawn up since Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took office last week, government sources said Wednesday.
Kishida has vowed to strengthen the governmentтАЩs coronavirus response, as well as JapanтАЩs science and technology. The idea for the fund has come as Japanese companies have lagged behind foreign rivals in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and the country has had to rely on foreign doses.
Japan will тАЬestablish the worldтАЩs top-class research and development base for vaccines,тАЭ a draft plan said.
Under the economic package, to be compiled after an Oct. 31 Lower House election, the government will also expand what is known as a тАЬuniversity fundтАЭ by ┬е600 billion in a bid to enhance research activities and make Japan a nation of science and technology, according to the sources.
The fund, worth ┬е4.5 trillion, is scheduled to be launched by March to help Japanese universities invest in future research. Kishida is seeking to expand it eventually to around ┬е10 trillion.
Kishida, who became prime minister on Oct. 4, has said the government will put together an economic package worth тАЬtens of trillions of yenтАЭ to bolster measures against the coronavirus and ensure a steady growth recovery.
His administration has estimated that ┬е2.3 trillion will be necessary to invest in the fields of science and technology as well as innovation.
In addition to the amount, the draft calls for тАЬseveral trillion yenтАЭ to take steps against climate change, while ┬е350 billion may be used to step up manufacturing and research of semiconductors.
These are essential for JapanтАЩs auto and high-tech industries, and the new government has placed importance on boosting economic security in the face of a global crunch of the key components.
If the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party wins the election of the House of Representatives, the sources said Kishida plans to decide on a set of economic measures in mid-November and secure approval for a supplementary budget to finance them from parliament by the end of the year.
Kishida has pledged to bolster JapanтАЩs middle class by steering away from neoliberal economic policies and redistributing wealth. But he has repeatedly said in recent days that economic growth should be sought first.
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