Business leaders propose high-tech cities to boost economic growth

Tuesday 07th December, 07:10 AM JST

TOKYO —

Japan’s most influential business lobby proposed on Monday creating cities with cutting-edge technologies in the environment, energy and medical fields in tandem with the nation’s existing towns and industries in the fields.

The Japan Business Federation known as Nippon Keidanren will also ask the local and central governments to work together to set up such cities named ‘‘future cities’’ and to subsidize the project, the organization said in its economic growth proposal released earlier in the day.

The aim is for the private sector spurring technological and social innovations to strengthen Japan’s industrial competitiveness and help resolve issues the country is facing such as an aging society with a falling birthrate and global warming.

By next March, the business lobby plans to select the implementation sites of the ‘‘future cities’’ out of existing urban areas with populations of 200,000 to 300,000. It will call on private companies to shoulder financial burdens for the creation of such cities, but will also ask for support from the central and local governments, an official of Keidanren said.

The organization will likely begin several projects in the proposal from next fiscal year starting in April 2011, such as developing technology to collect rare earth minerals from scrapped electric appliances and automobile equipment to promote recycling of the minerals.

It will also begin a project to help firms foster human resources familiar with science and technology.