Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:I have several announcements to make. First, I will give an overview of the Cabinet meeting. The meeting approved four measures, including general measures, and also the promulgation of cabinet orders and personnel decisions. With regard to statements by ministers, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry made a statement concerning the FY2010 White Paper on Manufacturing Industries (Monodzukuri), and I made a statement concerning the 2011 Autumn Decorations and the Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals and the FY2011 Order of Culture.

In ministerial discussions following the Cabinet meeting, I made a statement concerning the vision regarding the considerations of the Ministerial Meeting Relating to Remuneration of National Public Servants, and a statement on the Government's measures in response to the flooding damage in Thailand.

(Abridged)

Next, I would like to discuss the second meeting of the Ministerial Meeting Relating to Remuneration of National Public Servants, which was held before the Cabinet meeting. Discussions took place on the handling of the remuneration of national public servants for this fiscal year. Today's meeting of the Ministerial Meeting confirmed the following items. First, in order to cope with the Great East Japan Earthquake, utmost efforts will be made to achieve the early passage of the draft temporary special legislation on remuneration, which has already been submitted to the Diet. Second, considering that the contents and purpose of the latest recommendations of the National Personnel Authority are a breakdown of the temporary special legislation on remuneration, a further review will be carried out by the next Ministerial Meeting. Considerations will be made with the intent of not submitting a new draft legislation for the implementation of the recommendations of the National Personnel Authority this year. Third, another meeting of the Ministerial Meeting will be held soon, and based on the review, a conclusion will be reached about the handling of the remuneration of national public servants for this fiscal year.

Next, I would like to discuss the second meeting of the Headquarters to Promote the Revival of the Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery Industries, which was also held before the Cabinet meeting. At today's meeting, based on the outcomes of the considerations made by the Council for the Realization of the Revival of the Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery Industries, which has so far met a total of seven times over a period of 11 months, the basic policy and action plan for the revival of the food, agriculture, forestry, and fishery industries mentioned in the Basic Policy on Comprehensive Economic Partnerships were approved. I will not go into the specifics about the comments made by Prime Minister Noda as that part of the meeting was conducted openly. For details, please direct your questions to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the National Policy Unit.

I have another announcement - it is about Thailand. At the Cabinet meeting, (1) in order to repay the support Japan received in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and (2) to support Japanese companies with businesses in Thailand -- the largest production hub for Japanese companies in Southeast Asia -- as well as to support the Thai economy and ASEAN's overall economies, new urgent measures were compiled for Thailand, which is on high alert,, (3) as our international contribution in the areas of disaster response and disaster risk management, bearing in mind the lessons of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The details are explained in the material, which I believe has been distributed to you. First, regarding the protection of Japanese people, efforts through the Japanese Embassy, etc. will continue to be made to provide information and to confirm the safety of Japanese people in areas which are submerged in water and flooded, among other activities. Also, for the Japanese companies which are heavily impacted by the flooding and so on, the Government will actively provide support for the continuation and resumption of company operations, including the facilitation of funding procurement and the rebuilding of production systems. As for support for Thailand, Japan intends to soon dispatch experts on waterproofing measures as part of the Japan Disaster Relief Team as well as provide grant aid tailored to the needs of Thailand. The flooding damage in Thailand still has not been brought to a conclusion, and furthermore, has the potential to leave an impact on the country and this region into the future. Moving forward, the Government will continue to consider further measures for the restoration stage, etc. For details on each measure, please forward your questions to the relevant ministries and agencies.

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER:How much do you currently know about the cyber attack on the computer server of the House of Representatives, which is now being reported by certain news sources?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:First, the Government is currently carrying out a thorough confirmation of the situation. It is my understanding that if illegal activity is found, the police will respond to the situation in a strict manner. In either case, handling cyber attacks is an important issue for national security and crisis management. In the future, it is possible that similar problems could arise for the Secretariats of the House of Representatives and House of Councillors, the courts, and even other organizations independent of the Government, in addition to the various institutions of the Cabinet. The Government will exert every effort to further enhancing coordination and ensuring sufficient countermeasures to cyber attacks, including requesting the various institutions to also refer to the information security measures of the Government.

(Abridged)

REPORTER:Moving on, I would like to ask about the comments made by Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba concerning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Regarding the basic policy on revitalizing the agricultural industry (Basic Policy and Action Plan for the Revival of the Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery Industries in Japan), which was decided on today, Minister Gemba said that a new concrete system will ultimately have to be constructed if the TPP is to be taken into view, and that consideration would have to be made to direct payments for livestock, wheat, and other products. With regard to these individual economic partnerships and the way of determining agricultural policies for each partnership - I am sure that this is an issue of which is determined first, but - some believe that unless a concrete agricultural policy is laid out first, it will be difficult to convince farmers about the TPP. With regard to this, what is the Government's schedule for creating a basic agricultural policy in relation to the TPP?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA:I get the impression that you are asking about the relationship between the basic policy and the issue of participation in TPP negotiations, but the issue of reviving the food, agriculture, forestry, and fishery industries is one that should be addressed regardless of what is decided concerning participation in TPP agreement negotiations. As you have heard, these efforts will be steadily carried out over the ensuing five-year period in accordance with a basic policy and action plan, for which the details are to be determined in the future in light of the future direction of budget requests and institutionalization.

(Abridged)