Press Conference by Minister Saito (Excerpt)

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

8:45 to 8:53 a.m.
Friday, April 19, 2024
In the elevator hall, 2nd floor, the annex to the House of Representatives building

Opening Remarks

Governmental and other public procurement

Good morning.
At the beginning, I would like to mention three points.
First, under the basic policy on governmental and other public contracts with small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in fiscal year 2024, on which a cabinet decision was made today, in order to increase opportunities for SMEs to receive procurement contracts from governmental and other public institutions, we have set the target ratio of the total value of procurement granted to SMEs in terms of governmental and other public procurement in the current fiscal year at 61% and the target value of contracts with SMEs at 5,355.7 billion yen. In addition, in order to realize wage increases commensurate with rising prices, the basic policy includes measures such as promoting price pass-through with respect to governmental and other public procurement and taking care to increase order-receiving opportunities for SMEs in the areas affected by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. The government will do its utmost in these respects.

Green Transformation (GX) Promotion Organization

Second, in preparation for the establishment of the GX Promotion Organization, an application from the founding organizers, including Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation), the Japanese Bankers Association, and other experts, was submitted on April 16. As a result of examination, it has been recognized that the criteria for approval under the GX Promotion Act have been met, so we will grant that approval today. The appointment of Mr. Tsutsui Yoshinobu, vice chairman of Keidanren and chairman of Nippon Life Insurance Company as president of the organization has been informally decided. Going forward, the appointment will be made following the necessary procedures.

Approval regarding the Economic Security Promotion Act

Third, based on the Economic Security Promotion Act, five new plans, including one formulated by SAKURA internet Inc., have been newly approved with respect to the development of computational resources for use by a broad range of AI developers.
From the perspective of economic security and enhancement of industrial competitiveness, it is important to develop computational resources within Japan for the purpose of developing generative AI models, the utilization of which will further increase in the future. Moreover, as AI continues to evolve in the future, it is also essential to develop more sophisticated computational resources. Therefore, we will set up a study group comprised of business operators that we have decided to support and from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and hold discussions on technical matters, the challenges involved in business expansion, and the direction of efforts that Japan should make in the future.
As for detailed information, the administrative staff will provide a briefing at a later time.
I will end my remarks here.

Question-and-Answer Session

Strategic Energy Plan and Future Electricity Demand

Q: I would like to ask you about future electricity demand.
Regarding AI, which you mentioned at the beginning, according to a private-sector forecast, electricity demand may increase significantly as a result of the diffusion of new technologies, such as generative AI. It appears that not much consideration has been given to this point in discussion on the current Strategic Energy Plan. I suppose that discussion on a new Strategic Energy Plan will start in the current fiscal year. Please tell me what actions you expect will be called for in the discussion.

A: With respect to future electricity demand, as you mentioned, while it has been pointed out that electricity consumption may increase as a result of an increase in the data processing volume due to the advance of DX, I am aware of the view that the development of energy conservation technologies, such as photoelectric fusion, will proceed.
Regarding the next Strategic Energy Plan, since discussion by the advisory committee has not yet started, I should refrain from making comments with any prejudgment. However, as energy has a very significant impact on economic activities and on people’s lives, we would like to hold thorough discussions on the matter.