Japan Press Weekly

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2009 January 14 - 20 [POLITICS]

Keidanren urges ruling LDP and opposition DPJ to hold policy discussion

The Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) on January 14 published a 10-point priority list of policies and called on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan to hold policy discussions. “The Ruling and opposition parties should constructively discuss policies and present the results to the public,” it states.

Keidanren uses the priority list to rate political parties’ policies A to E. Its member corporations use the “report cards” as a reference for deciding on the amount of donations to each political party.

Keidanren urges parties to lower the effective corporate tax rate from 40 to 30 percent and increase the consumption tax rate.

It also calls for tax breaks for business investments, including energy saving plans as well as research and development costs on the pretext of the need to expand domestic demand.

Concerning employment issues, it demands that the government promote flexible work schemes and various employment systems that will benefit them.

Keidanren calls for promotion of diplomatic and security policies based on the Japan-U.S. alliance as well as a consensus on the revision of the Constitution.