*Note: This is a provisional translation for reference purposes only.

10:46-10:55
Friday, October 13, 2023
Press Conference Room, METI Main Building

Opening Remarks

Official visit to Fukui

Firstly, after this press conference, I will officially visit Fukui to meet Mr. Sugimoto, Prefectural Governor, and Mr. Nishimoto, Prefectural Assembly Chairman.
In Fukui, seven nuclear reactors are currently operating and have been significantly contributing to a stable supply of energy and the national government’s nuclear policy. We consider Fukui to be a very important prefecture.
In a dialogue held in April 2021 with Prefectural Governor Sugimoto about measures for spent fuel generated at nuclear power stations in Fukui, the then METI Minister Kajiyama promised that the national government, which is responsible for the national energy policy, will take the initiative together with the NPS operator and make the utmost efforts to obtain understanding from the related parties.
I would like to explain my thoughts on this issue directly to Prefectural Governor Sugimoto and Chairman Nishimoto today.

Question-and-Answer Session

Semiconductor-related budget

Q: Yesterday, Asahi Shimbun reported on a budget request totaling 3.4 trillion yen in relation to semiconductors. I would like to confirm the facts regarding this. In addition, the article states that the amounts allocated to support for Rapidus and TSMC will be 600 billion yen and 900 billion yen, respectively. Could you explain the background or other circumstances leading to that decision?

A. Regarding economic measures, METI is making clerical adjustments with the fiscal authorities. The details are being discussed at present, and I will refrain from making any comments on individual cases.
However, we consider that semiconductor-related technologies are extremely important for achieving digitalization and decarbonization as well as ensuring economic security. In particular, they are one of the keys to supporting next-generation industries such as generative AI, autonomous driving, 5G, quantum technology, EVs, and life sciences.
Japan lost its base for semiconductors a long time ago, but semiconductors will surely serve as the key technologies that will have a decisive influence on Japan’s future and industrial competitiveness. From the perspective of forging the future of Japan, we would like to secure a sufficient budget as required, while positioning semiconductors in the expansion of domestic investments, which is one of the pillars of our current economic measures.