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Director-General for GX Promotion/Director-General, GX Policy Group

Ryuzaki Takatsugu

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Mr. Ryuzaki Takatsugu has been serving as Director-General for GX Promotion/Director-General, GX Policy Group at METI since July 2024. In this role, Mr. Ryuzaki drove the acceleration of GX as the leader of the newly established GX group, including advancing the smooth implementation of the GX Promotion Act, which was passed last May, and for more detailed institutional design, including carbon pricing.

In his previous position, he served as Deputy Director-General of the Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau overseeing the planning, design and execution of ministry-wide industrial policy. Mr. Ryuzaki also helped formulate growth strategies across the Government of Japan. Specifically, he was in charge of drafting the framework for the Startup Development Five-Year Plan that aims for a ten-fold increase in investment in startups and the creation of 100 homegrown unicorn firms in Japan. Additionally, he helped draft the GX Promotion Act, a major piece of legislation designed to promote green innovation (GX) to enhance Japan’s industrial competitiveness and economic growth while laying the groundwork for the introduction of carbon pricing.

Mr. Ryuzaki served as Director of the Corporate Affairs Division from 2015 to 2018. During this assignment, he contributed to reducing Japan’s corporate tax rate to bring it in line with many other countries, one of the pillars of the Abe administration’s Abenomics initiative. He oversaw other tax reforms such as reducing the fixed asset tax imposed on capital investment to zero and converting the R&D tax system to an incentive-based system.

Mr. Ryuzaki started his career at METI in 1993. He served in a wide range of key posts including Director of the Policy Planning and Coordination Division under the Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, Director of the Policy Planning and Coordination Division under the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, Executive Assistant to the Minister for National Strategy and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary.

Mr. Ryuzaki graduated from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law and earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He was born in Tokyo on April 25, 1970.

Last updated:2024-09-12