Japan Press Weekly

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2023 January 25 - 31 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP parliamentarians meet with smaller business owners

Japanese Communist Party lawmakers Kasai Akira (Lower House) and Iwabuchi Tomo (Upper House) on January 24 met with officials of the National Conference of the Association of Small Business Entrepreneurs in Tokyo to listen to small business owners’ demands.

Representing the smaller business owners’ organization, Hirohama Yasuhisa said that in the midst of an unprecedented surge in prices of materials and energy, small- and medium-sized enterprises are facing difficulties in passing cost increases onto customers, adding that the need is for SMEs to find a way to address this situation.

Iwabuchi asked Hirohama about actions necessary to realize pay raises at SMEs. In response, Hirohama appealed for the need to establish fair-trade rules.

Kasai criticized the government-drafted 2023 budget for prioritizing a huge military buildup over support for smaller businesses experiencing the “triple hardships” associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, rising production costs, and excessive debts. He said, “We’ll conduct Diet deliberations based on the demands we heard today and work hard to help SMEs to stay in business.”

Past related article:
> Koike: JCP with its own budget proposal will conduct budget debate in Diet [December 24, 2022]