Station Front South District (Kobe City), a project based on a comprehensive plan formulated by a conference composed of local governments, railway operators and so on to keep the project moving efficiently. Coupled with a project for facilitating use for the Hanshin Sannomiya Station facilities, the project aims to renovate the station area in an integrated fashion.

The MLIT also encourages upgrading of the station facilities

as a general core of safe and comfortable regional living, as by building child-support and medical facilities in the premises of existing railway stations, from viewpoints of regional concentration by bringing medicine, work and living into closer vicinities.

## (3) Wide-area development of infrastructures to induce firm location

Competition, collaboration and regional buoyancy in East Asia should benefit greatly by inviting and accumulating internationally competitive growing industries in the individual regions. Motivated by this recognition, measures have been promoted to support expanding regional employment and more buoyant economy by concentrating investment on the development of those infrastructures, such as airports, ports and harbors, railroads, and wide-area expressway networks, that are truly needed to carry out unique regional approaches.

### a. Enhancing the functions of airport facilities

Air transportation networks connecting various locations at home and abroad contribute greatly to the revitalization of local communities by promoting regional tourism and supporting economic activities. Particularly, with the increasing globalization of the world economy due to the growing international division of labor, air transportation that can provide express delivery services is becoming increasingly important in recent years. To keep pace with such trends, MLIT is making efforts to reinforce airport functions, for instance, by promoting renovation projects in terminal areas, including aprons.

### b. Port and harbor development

Amid globally tight supply-demand balances for resources, energies and so on, assuring Japan of stable, low-cost imports of these substances to build up industrial competitiveness of the nation's industries and to maintain and even create employment and revenues should be one of the tasks of foremost importance as the nation depends on imports for virtually 100% of its requirements. The MLIT seeks to build stable and efficient networks of marine transportation for resources, energies and so on by developing large ship-ready port and harbor facilities as key locations, promoting inter-business partnership and so on.

### c. Railway development

The nationwide network of trunk railways is the lifeblood of passenger and freight transport, accelerating interaction between blocks and between regions, encouraging industrial location and activating regional economies to energize regional living. Rail freight transport, in particular, plays a dominant role in moving industrial commodities, etc. that support regional economies.

### d. Road development

Most of the newly built plants are located within 10 km from an expressway interchange from viewpoints of simplified logistic flow, ready access to distribution and so on. The formation of highway networks, including arterial high-standard