2010 April 14 - 20 [
ECONOMY]
METI gives notice about measures to relieve SMEs
|
April 20 & 21, 2010
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on April 19 issued a notice calling on leasing companies to accept a request from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for a moratorium on payments for machine leases.
SME owners’ efforts in collaboration with the Japanese Communist Party have borne this fruit.
The notice, sent to the Japan Leasing Association under the name of Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Naoshima Masayuki, called for “a flexible and appropriate response to SME owners’ requests for a moratorium on payment of lease fees and an expansion of lease period.”
JCP Chair Shii Kazuo had urged the government to provide direct assistance to SMEs to help pay for lease fees for machine tools and rent for their factories. Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio in reply promised to protect them and later Hatoyama expressed his intention to implement a moratorium measure on payment of lease fees.
A man running a metal-working factory in Tokyo’s Kamata District, where local factories are concentrated, said, “A moratorium on lease payments will be really helpful. Encouraged by this achievement, I will increase the struggle to establish a system of subsidizing fixed costs for machine leases and housing rents and urge the government to take further measures to achieve economic recovery.”
On the following day, the Japan Leasing Association in response instructed its member companies to comply with the ministry notice.
- Akahata, April 20 & 21, 2010
