The ever-changing Tokyo skyline, seen in this Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2002 photo, doesn't give away aclue that this nation is fighting its worst slowdown in decades. In the last two years, the Tokyo stock benchmark has erased half its value to a 19-year low. The jobless rate is at 5.5 percent, the highest in 50 years. But Japan is also in the middle of a feisty and ambitious development boom.
“If we can allocate Japanese savings in a sustainable society that will be a major driver,” says the Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike, in a response to this reporter’s question. “We can recruit more foreign companies to Japan. If we have more green initiatives, it will contribute to Japan’s overall economy.”
At the same time, it is demonstrating leadership. While the United States has bowed out, Japan is active in the Paris Climate Agreement and it has adopted a policy to become carbon neutral by 2050. Other financial capitals such as London and Hong Kong, meanwhile, are undergoing internal strife whereas Japan is politically and economically rock solid. “Japan is not difficult,” says David Shirt, chief executive of. “If you can navigate it, you can build a business here.
Fantastic