Top officials of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and the European Business Community issued a joint statement Wednesday calling on Japan to step up efforts to deregulate its economy.
"Japan needs to strengthen and accelerate the deregulation process, promote market-based competition and streamline product approval process," said ACCJ President Robert F. Grondine at a joint press conference with the EBC.
Grondine and EBC Chairwoman Isabelle Hupperts called for more deregulation in various sectors ranging from foreign direct investment to approval of imported goods.
Regarding the issue of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.'s interconnection fees, Grondine said charges must be reduced to international levels in the shortest period possible. Hupperts said lowering the charges, which other telecommunications firms pay NTT for use of its network, would help small and medium-size companies take advantage of electronic commerce.
Although the business organizations welcome and support what the Japanese government has done to open the market, they believe the efforts have recently slowed.
"We are very concerned with the signs of 'reform fatigue' that we see," Hupperts said.