Messages from Monthly Keidanren, February 1998

Action and Progress in Administrative Reform

Shoichiro Toyoda
Chairman, Keidanren


The Administrative Reform Conference presented its final report on December 3. At a special cabinet meeting the following day, the government announced that it will do everything possible to translate the report into legislation and into action.

As a member of the conference, I voiced the opinions of the business community. But the leadership of Prime Minister Hashimoto and the determined efforts of Messrs. Sato and Fujita and the secretariat were instrumental in completing this awesome task in the span of just over one year.

The Administrative Reform Conference had three main goals: The first was to strengthen the power of the cabinet to be better able to exercise political leadership. A second goal was to reorganize the central government into a smaller number of administrative units to alleviate the evils of narrow chains of command and make government more responsive to contemporary needs. Third, we wanted to create a more efficient government by slimming the bureaucracy. The conference's final report, which emphasizes those three goals, represents a big step forward toward reform.

Opinions about the final report differ. And some people have voiced discontent with some of the results. We should focus, however, on the big steps the conference made toward administrative reform. We need to look at the results in a positive manner and do what we can to put them to work.

Every attempt to move toward reform is a positive step. Japan must take a constructive approach in overcoming obstacles that arise in the path of reform.

We need to bring that determination to act in the next step--bringing the final report to legislation and actually carrying out reforms. We in the business sector give our full support to Prime Minister Hashimoto in his efforts in deregulation, reform of the financial system, and other elements of his six-point plan for reform.


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