To address this need, Hanshin Port and Keihin Port were selected to be an International Container Hubs each in August 2010 to implement a fully package of structural and non-structural measures, including the construction of deepwater quays and efficient port management. Under the circumstances where ports of call for international trunk routes had been narrowing down because ships were becoming larger and collaboration between shipping companies progressing, the International Container Hubs Policy Promotion Committee released its final conclusions in January 2014 focusing on the three key principles of “Collecting Cargo,” as by picking up cargoes at international container hub from sources over a broad area, “Creating Cargo,” as by integrating industries in the hinterlands of strategic ports, and “Strengthening International Competitiveness” as by reinforcing the functionalities of deepwater container terminals or creating a government system of investment into port management companies.

At Hanshin Port, support at national expense is provided to cargo collection business conducted by Kobe-Osaka International Port Corporation, in which the national government made an investment. The number of domestic feeder route services at ports in West Japan increased about 40% from 68 calls per week to 95 calls per week, and about 140,000 TEU of cargos were collected at Hanshin Port in FY 2015. These efforts are starting to yield fruit with the number of container cargos handled at Kobe Port in 2015 recorded a record high since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995.

For Keihin Port, an 18 meter-deep container terminal, the deepest in Japan, started services at Minami-Honmoku Pier, Yokohama Port on April 2015. Also, Yokohama Kawasaki International Port Co., Ltd., which was established at Yokohama Port and Kawasaki Port in advance, was designated as port operate company in March 2016, and the national government has made an investment in this company, thereby establishing a framework for collaboration among the government, port authority and the private sector.

From now on, the International Container Hubs Policy will be deepened and also initiatives be accelerated.

## (ii) Forming a marine transportation network for moving resources, energy sources and so on with stability and efficiency

Supply-demand balances for resources, energy, 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. On December 2013, the amended Port and Harbor Act came into effect to this end, along with associated cabinet orders and ministerial ordinances. The Act authorizes the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to name designated cargo import ports as import sites for bulk cargoes, such as coals, and also stipulates measures in support of such ports. Currently, initiatives are undertaken at Onahama Port and Kushiro Port, which are designated as strategic international bulk ports. At Onahama Port, construction of an 18 meter-deep international logistics terminal started in FY 2013 as a base for handling coal imports, and it was designated as Specified Cargo Import Hub Port in December 2013; Fukushima, the port administrator, developed and published a plan for promoting specified use with the aim of driving joint sea transport of coal. At Kushiro Port, construction of a 14 meter-deep international logistics terminal started in FY 2014 as a base for handling grain imports, and it was designated as Specified Cargo Import Hub Port in February 2016.

The goal is to realize a stable, low-cost supply of imports and thus build up Japan’s industrial competitiveness, create more employment and prevent outflow of earnings abroad.

## (iii) Building functionally core ports on the Japan Sea

Among the ports located on the coastal line of the Japan Sea geographically close to the fast economically growing nations across the sea, core ports were selected in November 2011 in an effort to capture the economic booms in these nations into Japan's growth through selection of functions and concentration of measures and through port-to-port linkage and to build a disaster-resistant logistics network following the Great East Japan Earthquake. We will continue to follow up on the progress and other aspects of the plans formulated by port management bodies.

## (iv) Building an integrated logistics information platform

An integrated logistics information platform that combines Nippon Automated Cargo Consolidated System (NACCS), with Container Logistics Information Service (Colins) is being built in order to improve the efficiency of system