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The Prime Minister in Action
Intensive Hearings on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Real Economy
March 20, 2020
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (1)
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (2)
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (3)
Photograph of the Prime Minister making a statement (4)
[Provisional Translation]
On March 20, 2020, the Prime Minister attended the second Intensive Hearing on the Impact of COVID-19 on the Real Economy at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Prime Minister said in his opening address,
“Thank you very much for coming to the Prime Minister’s Office today despite your busy schedules.
At this moment, in light of the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we have requested that large-scale events and other occasions be cancelled, among other requests. The economy is being enormously impacted. Not to mention inbound tourism, industries represented by everyone here are in particular being heavily impacted.
Today, I hope to hear your frank views.
Today, we are joined by various owners or representatives from the food service industry, such as independently-owned restaurants, family restaurant (casual restaurant) chains, buffet-style restaurants, those producers who run restaurants as part of their ‘sixth industrialization’ efforts, Kappo-style Japanese restaurants, despite their busy schedules.
Currently, the government is exerting every effort to prevent the spread of infections, and prevent symptoms getting severe and even control the outbreaks. Meanwhile, during this time, the economy is being significantly impacted. No matter what, we must not fail to protect employment. In that sense, I believe that we must extend support that enables business owners to continue their businesses.
After our all-out efforts to contain the outbreaks, we intend to implement a bold economic policy to achieve a V-shaped recovery so that the Japanese economy recovers strongly and returns to a stable trajectory of economic growth.
In light of that, I would like to hear in detail from you, those who are working tirelessly at the forefront, about what sort of needs you have, what your current situation is, what issues are troubling you, and what kinds of measures you would like to see implemented.
We intend to implement thorough measures based on your views. We would like to ask for your candid comments today.”
