in the autumn of 2008, however, the volume of new shipbuilding orders has dropped sharply and become more uncertain than ever in context of the financial unrest in Europe. As a rising yen has lasted long, Japan’s shipbuilding and ship machinery businesses are faced with an increasingly difficult business climate.

Changes in the Volume of Newly Built Ships in the World

Graphic II-6-3-10

Graphic II-6-3-11

Japan's Marine Industrial Product Output and Export/Import Results

The production of ship machinery products (except for outboard motors) for 2011 was valued at 943.3 billion yen (down about 2.8% from the previous year), with an export amount of 235.9 billion yen (down about 1.4% from the previous year). The climate surrounding the ship machinery business is predicted to become harsher than ever, with sharp decline in the orders for new shipbuilding, intensifying global competition and increasingly aging workforce.

## ② Efforts aimed at reinforcing international competitiveness of shipbuilding and ship machinery industries

To reinforce the international competitiveness of Japan’s shipbuilding and ship machinery industries and allow Japan to stand as a first-class shipbuilding nation, implementation of the policy package focusing on the reinforcement of Japan’s order-taking capacities and expansion into new markets and new segments of the shipbuilding and ship machinery fields, need to be propelled.

To help build up order-taking capacities, the Ministry proceeded with preparation of domestic legislations related to a $ CO_{2} $ emissions control scheme that had been introduced to the international shipping by Japan’s initiative and also extended its support to shipbuilders and marine transporters on development of innovative energy-saving technologies that dramatically improve fuel efficiency of ships. A project to create an environment for facilitating early commercialization and popularization of the environmentally-sound natural gas-fueled ships has also been launched since FY2012. The Ministry continues committing to realize a desirable framework of international collaboration under cooperation between the private and public sectors and promoting research and development and diffusion of, innovative energy-saving technologies for ships including natural gas-fueled ships.

The Ministry drives effort for expanding into new markets and new businesses, namely, the promising fields of marine resources development and renewable marine energy sources. More specifically, it supports private sector’s involvement into marine resources development projects in which Japan has technical strength, and also the development of technologies related to marine resources development to acquire those technologies that enable Japan to carry out development in its own EEZ and thus create marine markets. In April 2012, the Ministry just formulated technical standards on floating wind turbine power plants and seeks to reinforce Japan’s international competitiveness by taking initiatives in making international standardization.

The Ministry has also dedicated to combat fake ship machinery products and worked to consolidate engineering capabilities of smaller shipbuilders through promotion of Super Eco-Ships (SES $ ^{Note} $ ) by Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT), commercialization support of evolving technologies and so on.