A food safety agency should be established under the Farm Ministry, the ministry's new chief, Masahiko Yamada, told the press Wednesday. "I want the food safety agency incorporated into the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry by merging the food hygiene bureau of the Health Ministry and the consumer safety bureau of the Agriculture Ministry," Yamada said.
Establishing the food safety agency was one of the promises made by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan in its policy manifesto for the lower house election last summer. "The Consumer Affairs Agency mostly deals with risk evaluation," Yamada said. "Management of food safety and risk should be handled by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry."
Meanwhile, the new farm minister also weighed in on free trade agreements, saying that he will find it difficult to support such agreements unless considerations are made to ensure that Japanese farming and fishing villages will be able to survive on their own. The Doha round of the World Trade Organization's multilateral trade talks are probably not going to conclude this year, Yamada said.
As for the income-support program for farmers, which is slated to fully commence next fiscal year, the minister said he wants 1 trillion yen in funding. Yamada called for a budget increase for his ministry next fiscal year, saying not enough money can be found for the program aimed at farmers. The income-support program was another promise made by the DPJ in the lead-up to the lower house election.
On the U.S. government's call for Japan to remove its import restrictions on U.S. beef, Yamada said that he "will handle the issue as carefully as possible."
Source: The Nikkei June 10, 2010
TOKYO (NQN)--Industrial machinery orders grew 18.8% year on year to 275.806 billion yen in April, up for the second straight month, the Japan Society of Industrial Machinery Manufacturers said Wednesday.Domestic orders rose 9.4% to 196.93 billion yen, buoyed by the 49.6% jump in orders from electrical machinery firms, automakers and other manufacturers. Overseas orders soared 51.3% to 78.87 billion yen. Orders from China and other Asian nations, which account for more than 70% of the total, surged.
Source: The Nikkei June 9, 2010
TOKYO (NQN)--Japanese consumer confidence perked up for the fifth straight month in May, with the index rising 0.8 point from April to 42.8, the Cabinet Office said Thursday.On a year-on-year basis, the index climbed 7.1 points. The government maintained its previous assessment that consumer sentiment continues to show signs of a recovery. For the survey, households were asked to rate their outlooks for economy for the coming six months on a scale of one to five, in four separate categories.
An index reading of 100 means all respondents believe their livelihoods are improving, while a reading of zero indicates the opposite
Source: The Nikkei June 10, 2010
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japan's leading furniture retailer Nitori Co. (9843) plans to spend around 130 billion yen to more than double its store network to 500 by February 2017, company sources said. This represents an increase of 280 stores over seven years and is more than double the pace of openings in the past seven years. The company currently has 220 locations, six of which are in Taiwan.On top of its typical large stores stocked with a wide range of furniture and interior goods, Nitori plans to launch 100 small outlets concentrating on bedding. After breaking into Tottori Prefecture by February 2011 and setting up shop in Shimane Prefecture by February 2012, the retailer will have a presence in all 47 Japanese prefectures.
Nitori is also considering setting up shop in other foreign markets. Although the middle class is growing in many Asian countries, the company reckons that it will be some time before spending on furniture significantly expands in the region. It will thus focus on growing its Japanese business, with expansions into Europe and the U.S. likely to be up for consideration. From fiscal 2010, the firm will shell out almost 20 billion yen a year on store openings alone, an amount comparable to its total investments in fiscal 2009, including spending on distribution centers.
Through fiscal 2009, Nitori had enjoyed 23 straight years of increased sales and profit. For the year ended in February, group sales jumped 17% to 286.1 billion yen and pretax profit soared 40% to 47.4 billion yen. The industry No. 2, Otsuka Kagu Ltd. (8186), was well back with parent-only sales of 57.9 billion yen. Nitori's debt-to-equity ratio -- a gauge of financial health -- hit a low 0.2 at February-end, signaling that it has ample leeway to invest.
Its growth has been fueled by a series of aggressive discounting over the last two years, with prices cut 14-50% on an average 400 items each time. The company, which makes the bulk of its products in low-cost Asian countries, was able to implement such discounts because of foreign exchange gains and reduced costs from efforts to streamline logistics.
Source: The Nikkei June 10, 2010
NEC Corp. is looking to what is broadly referred to as "IT solutions" to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a total of 15 million tons between now and fiscal 2017. The company announced on Wednesday a groupwide environmental management action plan that also sets a goal of improving the energy efficiency of manufactured goods by 80% from fiscal 2005 levels.
The information technology solutions include using cloud computing to cut clients' power consumption; supporting energy conservation at data centers, offices and homes; using lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, and creating energy-storage systems for smart grids.
Through all of these efforts, NEC aims to hit its carbon dioxide reduction target. Efforts related to electric cars and smart grids are expected to account for some 2-3 million tons of this total.
Source: The Nikkei Business Daily June 10, 2010
FamilyMart Co. will introduce JTB Corp. travel packages at its convenience stores in Japan and elsewhere in Asia as part of a joint effort to target the region's demand for such services, The Nikkei learned Sunday. Beginning this fall, JTB tours will be offered via FamilyMart's network of 7,700 domestic stores and 8,300 overseas branches in such markets as South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Products offered in Asia will focus on travel packages to Japan, while those in Japan will feature destinations in other parts of Asia. The two companies also plan to develop packages together.
JTB customers taking part in these packages will receive coupons and drink tickets that can be redeemed at FamilyMart stores at their tour destinations.
Source: The Nikkei June 14, 2010
The Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo, Japan
Source : http://www.depthai.go.th