TOKYO - As Japan's construction firms are squeezed by the tightest labour market since the 1970s and a rapidly ageing population, they are pouring investment into technology - and providing unexpected support to an economy reeling from the bitter US-China trade war.
Equipped with state-of-the-art AI, cameras and sensors, the machines handle everything from transporting building materials and welding steel to installing ceilings. MORE PROJECTS Construction work has blossomed in Japan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's"Abenomics" stimulus and an infrastructure boom ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Year-on-year, total capital expenditure in Japan rose for the 10th straight quarter in the April-June period, helping gross domestic product expand an annualised 1.3 per cent.