Businesses call for strong leadership by Hatoyama in delivering change

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TOKYO, Sept. 16 Kyodo -
Company executives called Wednesday for new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama to show strong leadership in delivering on his promises of change to
steer the Japanese economy out of its downturn and toward globally competitive
growth.
But many business groups also urged the new government to listen to public
opinion and the views of the corporate sector before implementing new economic,
social and climate policies that may mark a severe break from the past.
''I hope (the new administration) will respond to people's expectations for
change and lay out an attractive vision for the future that will lead to a
vibrant Japan,'' Lawson Inc. President Takeshi Niinami said.
Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, was voted in as prime
minister earlier in the day and will lead a tripartite coalition government
made up of the DPJ, the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party.
Some business leaders also welcomed the new Cabinet lineup, which included
selections of veterans like Hirohisa Fujii as finance minister, allaying some
fears of an untested leadership coming into power after the Liberal Democratic
Party ruled the country for most of the past half-century.
''We can see a clear stance (in the Cabinet makeup) to make all-out-efforts to
tackle the challenges,'' Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business
Federation, also known as Nippon Keidanren, told reporters.
Echoing the view, Kirin Holdings Co. President Kazuyasu Kato said, ''We have
hopes for the appointments of personnel well-versed in each area with a view to
achieving some of the key challenges including economic and social security
policies.''
''We urge Prime Minister Hatoyama to engage in public policies with strong
leadership, a sense of speed and firm responsibility,'' he added.
The DPJ has repeatedly vowed to pursue people-centered policies, promising to
put more money in the hands of consumers and wrest power from bureaucrats and
return it to politicians.
Some of its other campaign pledges including its target of reducing greenhouse
gas emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and the promise to ban the
dispatch of temporary workers to manufacturing companies have been criticized
by some industries as too far-reaching and unrealistic.
''In some ways, our industry has been protected by the LDP administration,'' a
senior official at a department store said.
''As the debate on greenhouse emissions illustrates, companies may face
difficult situations and be forced to take stepped-up measures,'' the official
said.
Nobuo Katsumata, chairman of Japan Foreign Trade Council Inc., also called for
the DPJ to lay out specific details on how to achieve its climate target.
''In order to achieve the goal, there will be a need for broad efforts and
burdens across all ranks including not only companies, but the general public,
government and all other organizations,'' Katsumata said at a press conference.
''I hope they will lay out a road map, sufficiently explain it to the people
and obtain their consent.''
''We urge the new administration to implement without interruption policies for
recovery in economic and employment conditions,'' he added.
Meanwhile, Masamitsu Sakurai, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate
Executives, called for policy transparency and cautioned the DPJ from
''becoming arrogant'' over last month's sweeping general election victory.
Despite gaps in positions over the DPJ's environmental and employment policies,
Keidanren's Mitarai, also chairman of Canon Inc., said the business industry
''hopes to carry out close and frequent policy dialogue.''
==Kyodo