The message of the symposium was that in a globalized economy, there is no distinction between barriers to foreign investment and barriers to domestic investment. Panelists at the investment symposium praised the many regulatory reforms the Government of Japan has carried out over the past few years to break down barriers to investment. For the first time, the law will provide for Chapter 11-style workouts to help firms revive before they collapse completely. The first major revisions to labor laws in 45 years have brought important new vitality to the labor market. Longer fixed-term contracts and more flexible work hours are now possible for workers.
Temporary workers can now engage in a broader range of occupations.
U.S. firms are simply not facing the same difficulties in attracting quality Japanese employees they did even a few years ago. Two more important transitions are now taking shape in the rewriting of the Commercial Code and making the legal system more responsive to the needs of a great commercial and financial center. I am especially pleased to note that both MITI and Keidanren have actively sought recommendations from the international business community as they developed their own policy papers on commercial code and legal reform. Regulatory reform and regulatory transparency. Merger and acquisition policies.