Revitalization minister Yamagiwa to serve as minister for startups

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday appointed Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of economic revitalization, to the post of minister in charge of startups, providing further assistance for establishing startup companies. Yamagiwa will serve both posts simultaneously.

Fostering startups is a key part of the prime minister’s ‘new capitalism’ policy goal, and Kishida aims to speed up progress in this area.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara explained the new ministerial post at a press conference. “As the minister responsible for the policy, [Yamagiwa] will compile a five-year plan for fostering startups with a goal of increasing the number [of startups] 10-fold in coming five years.”

The government also established a promotions office within the Cabinet Secretariat for ‘global startup campuses’, and an office to provide assistance for small-to-mid size businesses to enter overseas markets. The promotions office aims to attract foreign universities with advanced technology research labs into Japan, as well as attracting overseas investments in to Japanese startups.