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February 22, 2008
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It urged the incoming administration to ease the regulations during its term. In the report, the Federation of Korean Industries pointed out that Japan’s capital spending has accelerated in recent years, since the abolition of regulations it introduced 40 to 50 years ago to prevent concentration in the Tokyo and Kyoto-Osaka metropolitan areas. After the Japanese government in 2002 abolished the law that requires companies to get advance permission before expanding their plants in the Tokyo or Kyoto-Osaka areas by over 500 square meters, Japan-based multinational companies, which had focused on building new production facilities overseas, turned back to their home country. According to the federation’s data, Canon Incorporated, a camera and optical products maker, invested 600 billion yen ($5.6 billion) to build a laboratory in Japan’s capital region in 2004. Sharp Corporation, an electronics maker, will spend 500 billion yen to build a thin-film transistor plant in the Osaka area next year. Accordingly, capital spending growth in Japan accelerated to between 7 and 9 percent in recent years from negative growth in 2002, said the local business lobby. In contrast, in Korea, 44 companies that want to build or expand plants in the capital area or Incheon and Gyeonggi Province have yet to get government approval. This is delaying the employment of 25,500 new workers, the federation said, quoting the Gyeonggi provincial government. Currently, the Korean government bans plant expansions of over 500 square meters in the region, allowing exceptions only after rigorous inspections. By Moon So-young Staff Reporter [symoon@joongang.co.kr] |
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