TOKYO - Japan will launch a subsidy program to encourage domestic manufacturers to transfer their overseas production bases to Southeast Asia, as the coronavirus pandemic has greatly disrupted their s
upply chains heavily dependent on China.
"Even before the virus outbreak, there has been a growing need for Japanese firms to set up production bases in the ASEAN region," an official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. " will help our country build better relationships with ASEAN countries, too." In another effort to reinforce supply chains, the government will spend 220 billion yen to promote domestic output of items that are currently heavily imported from certain areas. Also included in the stimulus, the subsidies will financially support the relocation of Japanese firms' overseas production sites back home.
According to the Japan Hygiene Products Industry Association, about 80 percent of face masks in the country in 2018 were imported, mainly from China. Such masks have become scarce since the virus outbreak, prompting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to launch a program for universal distribution of two cloth masks in the country.
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