Roundtable with Global Investors
[Provisional translation]
On October 6, 2023, Prime Minister Kishida participated in the Roundtable with global investors at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Prime Minister delivered the following closing remarks:
“Today, as the conclusion of Japan Weeks, I heard valuable opinions on asset management in Japan from world’s leading asset owners and managers with assets totaling approximately 3,300 trillion yen under management.
I am advocating the “New Form of Capitalism,” in which the public and private sectors work together and transform social challenges into engines of growth. One of its key policy agenda is to promote a fundamental shift from savings to investment.
Through policy measures such as the drastic expansion of NISA, the tax exemption scheme for small investments, I will realize a virtuous cycle in which cash and deposits, which account for more than half of the household financial assets worth of over 2,100 trillion yen, are directed to investment, and the benefits of increased corporate value are returned to households, leading to further investment and consumption.
The key to achieving this goal is the reform of the asset management sector, which manages investments of household financial assets. I aim to create an environment where excellent firms and human resources gather and compete with each other to provide better products and services to investors, including households, and to encourage new entrants into the sector from home and abroad.
To this end, we will first rectify Japan's unique business practices and resolve barriers to entry, promote deregulation to allow outsourcing of back-office operations, and establish special business zones tailored specifically for asset management business in cooperation with aspiring local governments to focus on improving business and living environments.
In order to ensure that our reforms reflect the needs of global investors, I have decided to launch an asset management forum and will establish a preparatory committee for it by the end of this year. Through this forum, I would like to hear the opinions of the global leading investors and reflect them in our efforts to make Japan an attractive market.
I am confident that, through the “Japan Weeks” for these two weeks, you have sensed our determination to transform ourselves into an international financial center. The number of securities accounts has started to increase significantly, and there have been moves toward industry restructuring and new entries.
I will continue to carry out reforms without hesitation and pioneer a new Japan. I hope that you will join us in making new investments for the future of Japan.”