Within several days after the earthquake, we approached concerned people to discuss and set forth the Rehabilitation Vision.
We submitted our proposal to Chairperson Atsushi Shimokobe of The Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake Rehabilitation Committee, Nobuo Ishihara, deputy chief Cabinet secretary (for the cabinet under Prime Minister Murayama). The proposal was adopted and promoted as the government proposal.
Proposers:
Organizer:
Consortium Members
& Collaborators:
Hajime Karatsu, Kenzo Uchida, Nobuo Ishihara, Koji Suzuki
Koji Suzuki (Total Project-Producer)
Private corporations in Singapore, Government-linked corporations, Singapore Government, investment corporatio
ns, and Conglomerates in Hong Kong
Cooperation for promotion:
(positions then)
Governor Kaihara / Vice Governor Tamarimizu of Hyogo Prefecture
Mayor Sasayama of Kobe City
Haruyasu Osumi (Vice President of Hanshin Awaji Industrial Rehabilitation Promotion Organization)
Vice-minister and Director-General level officers of the Ministries of Construction and International Trade and Industry, National Land Agency, and Economic Planning Agency (Haruho Fujii, Atsushi Yoshikawa, Hideaki Kimoto etc.)
In 2011, we organized the Non-Partisan Rehabilitation Group immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake and proposed the establishment of the “Four Rehabilitation Special Zones” including the application of Economic Special Zones.
Prior to the Rehabilitation Group, we organized the Economic Hub Development Group (chaired by MP Yoshihiko Noda, in 2008-2010) to discuss ways to revitalize the stagnant economy of Japan after the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. We took action to reflect the results of the discussion to the government policy to rehabilitate and revitalize Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
For the rehabilitation of Kobe, we failed to realize the difference between “administrative rehabilitation” and “industrial rehabilitation.” We also failed to have “a strategy to obtain funds for rehabilitation” which is required for economic reconstruction and revitalization in real terms.
For true revitalization following administrative rehabilitation, we consider it necessary to have and implement a strategically structured program, thus to obtain funds for rehabilitation.
The “strategy to obtain funds for rehabilitation” is lacking in the policies of both national and local governments to rehabilitate the affected area from the Great East Japan Earthquake．Unfortunately, because of this, it can hardly be said that the affected area is on the process of real rehabilitation.
In 1995, we organized a Consortium consisting of Japanese and overseas governments and investing corporations, and made efforts to help Kobe rehabilitated after the Great Hanshin Earthquake with the supporting rehabilitation fund.
For the several years before the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, we had been in the process of formulating “Master Plan for Japan ―Study on the Grand Design of Social Capital Development and Public Investment” in a Committee consisting of leading figures in relevant sectors in Japan at that time.
While the study was in progress, the great earthquake occurred, and we proposed a Master Plan of Japan to the government covering post-earthquake rehabilitation plans.
In the following, we summarize the Rehabilitation proposal and scenario that we submitted to the government offices including Chairman Shimokobe of the Rehabilitation Committee, the Murayama Cabinet and Nobuo Ishihara, deputy chief Cabinet Secretary.
We hope it can present a road map to the true rehabilitation after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
We consider that concrete proposals are contained in the proposal and scenario that will help the rehabilitation and revitalization of Japan today including desirable public investment and social capital plans to be realized in 2012 and onward.
阪神淡路大震災 復興開発提案
Rehabilitation & Development Proposal after the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake
復興への推進ワーズ：
Key Phrase to Promote Rehabilitation / Revitalization
------ By introducing Japan’s first Economic Special Zone in the disaster area, and formulating policies to open the doors of Japan for the first time after WWII, we will prepare and implement a Rehabilitation Plan to obtain rehabilitation resources including entrepreneurs, energy, investments and so on from overseas.
□ Proposal (Japanese)
Policy, Program Structure, Legislation to establish the Economic Special Zone System including incentives, Business Facilities, Cooperation from Foreign Governments and Investment Institutions for the Rehabilitation of Kobe
□ Proposal (English version)
Policy, Program Structure, Legislation to establish the Economic Special Zone System including incentives, Business Facilities, Cooperation from Foreign Governments and Investment Institutions for the Rehabilitation of Kobe
□ Documents of negotiations including offers for investment into rehabilitation projects in Kobe (English)
Documents of offers for investments (original English)
The original documents were handed over to Chairman Shimokobe.
Establish a strategic structure between Economic Special Zones in Suzhou, Wuxi and Shanghai into which investments from the world were introduced promoted by the Singapore government and Kobe Port and its hinterland in order to invite investors to Japan.
A few ministers of Singapore and British-supported companies in Hong Kong supported the proposal and gave us letters of their offers.
Chairman Shimokobe of the Rehabilitation Committee initiated the “Kobe-Shanghai and Yangtze Basin Economic Exchange Project” upon our proposal. Unfortunately, the Japanese government did not approve the introduction of Economic Special Zones in the affected area, and as a result, industrial rehabilitation was not realized.
The structure of rehabilitation by introducing the Economic Special Zone System to the earthquake affected area to which foreign governments and corporations will be invited.
“Structure to promote relations among the Japanese government, Japanese corporations, overseas governments and corporations” produced by Suzuki
(prepared by the Rehabilitation Committee)
Our proposal to introduce Economic Special Zones intended to catch the trend of liberalizing investments, port operations and communication services at the 1st WTO ministerial conference in Singapore in 1996, and the dispersal of assets of Hong Kong at the time of its return to China in 1997.
Report on “Industrial Promotion Policy with One Country Multiple Systems” for Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation by Haruyasu Osumi, and a letter to Suzuki.
Transfer 4 million TEUs of transit resources from Hong Kong to Kobe Port, a major trading port in Japan, as a means to transfer their assets outside Hong Kong..
We negotiated with Hutchison Whampoa and PSA, the world first and second port operators, and received their offer to transfer their resources.US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky also agreed to their transfer as a condition to lift US sanctions on Japanese ships entering US ports. (Suzuki negotiated with her on the capacity of an independent producer.)
the Kobe city office did not accept the large investments from abroad that we had prepared for the reason of excluding overseas port operators. (The city rejected the reform of bad restrictions and practices in cargo handling at ports and its hinterlands.)
English
