If Okinawa plans to have a viable and independent local economy, it will have to design an economic strategy that gives greater attention to the resources it has at hand while meeting the actual needs of Asia. The prospects for a major free trade authority in Okinawa look very promising. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has also recently made a major budget allocation to create a significant telecom infrastructure in Okinawa. All this will provide the backbone for the peace engineering business. Tourism accounts for another 10 percent of the economy.
Manufacturing represents just six percent.
These economic conditions have created a bloated local government bureaucracy. Local unions conspire to keep out new businesses. The two local newspapers, three local banks, and one beer company in Okinawa operate as monopolies. Okinawa has missed out on much of Japan's prosperity. Because of the large military presence, land prices are artificially high.