Atkinson vs Nissho / Mimura President Clash in SME policy

　The government held a " Growth Strategy Conference" at the Prime Minister's Office on the 19th to discuss "SME reform." In the brain of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga , former financial analyst David Atkinson, who insists on the reorganization of small and medium-sized enterprises, and Akio Mimura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nissho), who is concerned about his claim, will collide head-on. 

　The prime minister is eager to take measures to promote the reorganization of SMEs. The secretariat of the conference raised the issue, "I think we should improve labor productivity by supporting the expansion of the scale of small and medium-sized enterprises through the merger," and the discussion started.

　Atkinson pointed out that "the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises has been sluggish for many years" in the material presented at the meeting, and insisted that "a gradual increase in the minimum wage is effective" to overcome the current situation . He said that it is necessary to reorganize SMEs and create "strong SMEs" that can withstand wage increases.

　Mr. Mimura presented data that the ratio of small and medium-sized enterprises to employment is "more than 80%" excluding the big cities of Tokyo and Osaka. On that basis, he argued that "the decrease in small businesses has led to the outflow of employment to cities, accelerating the decline of rural areas." He emphasized that SMEs are receiving local employment and called for a cautious response.

　After the meeting, Mr. Mimura told reporters, "It is necessary to increase productivity by various policy means. Not all things can be solved by one policy," he nailed the urgent reorganization theory.

　The conference plans to compile an interim report later this year on productivity improvement measures such as SME reform.

Source: https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASNCM76F9NCMUTFK00Q.html