The following are highlights of the new three-year deregulatory package unveiled March 31.
1) In principle, all economic regulations should be removed
2) Early in fiscal 1998, the government will start disclosing original price estimates for public works projects
3) A supply-demand adjustment system used to control the number of carriers per route in the domestic airline industry will be scrapped
4) A decision will be made in May on liberalizing retail sales of electricity
5) The number of candidates passing the bar examination each year will be increased to some 1,500
6) Consideration will be given this fiscal year to easing restrictions on foreign capital participation in communications satellite broadcasting
7) The government will decide early this fiscal year whether private firms should be allowed to enter the agricultural sector
8) The government will begin studying this fiscal year the possibility of increasing the number of nonlife insurance products that can be sold freely
9) Screening procedures for new pharmaceuticals will be sped up by fiscal 1999