I will be a speaker for the international workshop on AID, FDI, Trade, and Public Governance. It is open to public, so please feel free to register and share the information.
Date; June 13 to 14 (my presentation from 1330pm on 14th)
Venue: IUJ Room 124, IUJ Library, 777 Kokusaicho, Minamiuonuma,
If you are interested, please kindly register your participation from this link:
https://forms.gle/A4bkqhDjCnJDZjT87
You can find additional information on the program (TBD), presentations, and speakers from
this link: https://www.dropbox.com/.../y7bb75mxcoobawz919pxa/Call-for-
Participation.docx?rlkey=72na4ssnmcfdxjylv7sdczrgf&st=yrnbvo5l&dl=0
Challenge For Local Governmance in Japan
Aid from the central government or go for foreign investment?
Low birth rate in local communities in Japan may motivate public officials to attract foreigninvestment and invite foreign workers.However, many Japanese locals may not seem so keen tobe open. One of the reasons might bethehigh dependencysyndrome of local governments onaid from the central government.Local municipalities in Japan have historically been supportedby the central government through “aid” called “local allocation tax”.Nearly half ofthe annualbudget of Minamiuonuma City comesfrom the central government.During the last five years,the central government has started a new type of aid called “Furusato Nozei”.That may havemade local communities more dependent on aid from the central government and less keen to beopen to outsiders.The city of Minamiuonuma is one of the most international cities in Japan andthere are various investment opportunities that are not fully utilized.Inthe long term, do we needto go for more aid from the central government or more foreign investment?