Japan to Establish Guidelines on Int'l Joint Research

Tokyo, March 16 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government will develop guidelines on international joint research to prevent the leakage of technology to other countries, a draft five-year plan showed Tuesday. The plan, which sets the direction of Japan's science and technology policy over the five years from fiscal 2021 starting next month, was drafted at a meeting of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, headed by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The government aims to adopt the plan at a cabinet meeting this month. The draft also included a government target of investing 30 trillion yen in research and development over the coming five years. "We'll greatly enhance investment to nurture researchers," Suga told the meeting, stressing that the government "will lead the international research and development competition" using its 2-trillion-yen green fund and 10-trillion-yen university fund. The government plans to establish the university fund within fiscal 2021 and start providing assistance to universities as early as fiscal 2023. END