Japan to launch ministry promoting startups

It aims to increase the number of startups in the country by 10 times over five years, further driving the nation’s economic growth.
By: | July 26, 2022

The Japanese government will be launching a ministry to promote startups, with the end goal of ramping up the number of startups in the country. 

“We will formulate a five-year plan by the end of the year with a view to increasing the number of startups by 10 times over five years,” said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, reports Reuters

“Many large companies began their history as startups”, he noted at the Keidanren Summer Forum 2022, adding that he had “high expectations for startups” as engines of economic growth. 

To that end, Kishida will be appointing a new minister overseeing startups, and another minister overlooking decarbonisation efforts in the country. 

Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of economic revitalisation and coronavirus response, will likely concurrently hold the post of startup minister, revealed a government source, according to Mainichi Japan.

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On the country’s drive toward green transformation, Kishida also aims to deliver “unprecedented support framework to spur massive long-term private sector investment” in carbon reduction industries.