産業ビジョン 日本の競争力をどう強化する

専門用語：
economic partnership accords　経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）

コメント：
自画自賛的記事です。
政治家も新聞記事で勉強しているのでしょうか。
新聞社に負けて欲しくないと思いました。
日本は年間のGDPの年間伸び率が4%を超える見込みで大喜び。
タイは12%を越える勢いですよ。

srachai from khonkaen, thailand

The Yomiuri Shimbun (May. 28, 2010)
How should Japan boost competitiveness?
産業ビジョン　日本の競争力をどう強化する（5月27日付・読売社説）

What can Japan do to find a way out of the stalling economy and boost its international competitiveness? The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has come up with a review of the nation's industrial policy.
　日本経済の行き詰まりを打破し、競争力を強化するにはどうすべきか。経済産業省が産業政策の見直しを打ち出した。

The review refers to the ministry's "Industrial Structure Vision," which serves as a guideline for the nation's economic revitalization. The government hopes to make this a major pillar of the new growth strategy that it plans to decide on in June.
　経済再生の指針とする「産業構造ビジョン」のことである。政府が６月中に策定する新成長戦略の柱にしたい考えだ。

As such countries as China and South Korea are quickly catching up with Japan, Japan's international competitiveness is on the decline.
　日本は中国や韓国などに猛追され、競争力は相対的に低下している。

With the declining population at home, economic expansion will be limited if the nation relies too much on domestic demand. On the other hand, Japanese companies are accelerating their transfer of production abroad, raising the fear of a hollowing out of domestic industries. This sense of alarm underlies the ministry's vision.
人口減少で、内需だけでは先細りだ。一方で、企業の海外移転が加速し、国内産業の空洞化も懸念される――。そうした危機感がビジョンの背景にある。

The Yomiuri Shimbun made an emergency proposal in early May, calling on the government to advance bold policies for the nation's economic reconstruction. The ministry's vision contains many points that overlap with those contained in the proposal. Both are probably aiming at similar targets.
　読売新聞社は５月初め、経済再生に向けて大胆な政策展開を求める緊急提言を行った。ビジョンは本紙提言と重なる内容が多い。目指す方向は同じだろう。

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5% tax cut in works

It is noteworthy that the administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has for the first time made clear its intention to lower the effective corporate tax rate by about 5 percent in the next fiscal year and lower it further to a range of 25 percent to 30 percent in the future.

　今回、注目されるのは、鳩山政権として初めて、法人税の実効税率を来年度に５％程度引き下げ、将来的に２５～３０％を目指すと明記したことだ。

Compared with corporate tax rates of about 30 percent in European countries and 25 percent or less in other Asian countries, Japan's effective corporate tax rate of 40.69 percent is strikingly high.
　欧州の３０％前後、アジアの２５％以下に比べると、日本の実効税率は４０・６９％と突出して高い。

Such heavy tax burdens deprive Japanese businesses of their corporate vitality, causing them to curb capital investment and reducing their international competitiveness.
　重い税負担が企業活力を奪い、設備投資などを抑制させて競争力を低下させている。

Many foreign companies are apparently reluctant to advance into the Japanese market because of the high corporate tax rate, which might partly explain the sluggish foreign investment in Japan.
日本への進出を躊躇(ちゅうちょ)する外国企業が多く、対日投資が伸びない原因でもある。

The Yomiuri Shimbun has proposed that the corporate tax rate be lowered to a range of between 20 and 30 percent. The government should accelerate internal discussion and slash the corporate tax at the earliest possible time.
　本紙は法人税の２０％台への引き下げを提言した。政府内で議論を加速し、税率の大幅引き下げを早期に実現すべきだ。

The ministry's vision also points out the need to reinforce the framework of public-private cooperation in promoting the export of such infrastructure-related technologies as nuclear power generation systems and high-speed railways to other Asian countries or elsewhere.
　アジアなど向けに、原子力発電所や新幹線などの社会基盤を売り込む、官民を挙げた体制強化の必要性もビジョンは指摘した。

We can expect great demand for social infrastructure abroad, involving a large sum of money. It is important for the government to adopt a strategy to pursue the benefits of expansion in both domestic and foreign demand.
　海外では巨額のインフラ需要が期待できる。内需と外需の二兎(にと)を追う戦略が肝要だ。

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'All Japan' system needed

Nevertheless, the international competition with countries in Europe, the United States and such Asian rivals as South Korea is fierce. For Japan--which has lagged behind these rivals in the export of infrastructure-related systems--to win the market competition, it has to establish an "All Japan" system and promote comprehensive support for the projects. Such support should range from the provision of funds to after-sales services, with the prime minister and concerned ministers showing diplomatic leadership.
　だが、欧米や韓国などとの競争も激しい。出遅れを挽回(ばんかい)するため、資金提供からアフターサービスまで、首相や閣僚を先頭に、オールジャパンで市場を勝ち取らねばなるまい。

The ministry's vision also includes the reinforcement of five strategic areas such as the development of next-generation vehicles, as well as the expansion of the economic partnership accords with other countries.
　ビジョンは、次世代自動車など五つの重点戦略分野の強化、経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）の拡大なども盛り込んだ。

The government needs to tackle all these measures expeditiously to boost Japan's competitiveness in the international market. Japanese businesses should not lose business projects despite having superior technological prowess.
　日本の競争力を強化するには、いずれも急いで取り組むべきテーマだ。技術で勝って、ビジネスで負ける事態は望ましくない。

Yet the mere presentation of the vision without its realization would be of no practical use.
　ただ、ビジョンを提示しても、実現できなければ絵に描いた餅に終わる。

Because the vision may conflict with similar growth strategies being advocated by other ministries including the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, the government must coordinate these views and clearly prioritize policies.
国土交通省など他省の成長戦略とも競合するが、政府全体として調整し、政策の優先順位を明確にしなければならない。

The speed with which these policies are carried out will be a test for the political leadership in the days ahead.
　日本の成長に弾みをつけるには、政治の指導力と、政策を実行するスピードが問われよう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 27, 2010)
（2010年5月27日02時04分 読売新聞）