Yuzaburo Mogi
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kikkoman Corp.

Forum for constructive discussion needed for Japan-China and Japan-Korea understanding

It was pleasing to see a hopeful mood emerging last year thanks to the economic recovery and the nomination of Tokyo to host the 2020 Olympic Games. I believe 2014 will be a critical year for translating the hope into a true recovery and building a robust Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economy-stimulating policy - known as "Abenomics" - contributed to the recovery last year. Now that his bold monetary policy and flexible fiscal policy have worked, we need a growth strategy to encourage private investment to put the economic recovery on the right track after the consumer tax hike slated for spring.

The government is expected to provide an environment to make it easy for private corporations and companies to promote business activities. For example, long-expected deregulation and revision of the corporate tax are among the urgent tasks. Free trade should be promoted with the early conclusion of the TPP agreement that will allow Japan to ride on the Asian-Pacific region's economic development. Fiscal reform is also another major challenge and its outcome is critical to Japan's future.

When the challenges facing Japan are more and more complicated, and urgent, The Genron NPO plays an important role by actively providing open discussion opportunities, and evaluating and proposing policies. The civil diplomacy channels built through the "Tokyo-Beijing Forum" or the "Japan-Korean Future Dialogue" are significant. I hope the NPO will create opportunities again this year for partner countries to deepen mutual understanding through productive discussions.