Fumio Kishida, Japan’s Prime Minister, stated in a Policy Speech Monday that Japan plans to invest in digital transformation. These include non-fungible tokens and metaverse services. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida continued calls for Web3 technology integration.
The country has been encouraging investment in digital technology for a long time, including through tax incentives to companies that are committed to a digital future.
Kishida spoke to Japan’s parliament and stated that the country will continue to support the “social implementation of digital technology” as well as “promote efforts for expanding the use of Web3 services that use the metaverse or NFTs.”
Japan’s federal entry into Web3 is a continuation of a trend in which officials are making strides to implement Web3 services in Japan – rather that following the usual bureaucratic route policies often have to travel.
The Web3 policy office was established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
It is aimed at creating policies to support the country’s gradual expansion into blockchain technology.
A task force created by Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party, and headed by Akihisa Shiozaki, released an NFT White Paper in April. It called Web3 “the new frontier in the digital economy” as well as outlined plans for advancing the national strategy on Web3.
METI is also said to be looking at a proposal to offer tax exemptions to Japanese crypto-company owners in order to encourage them to stay in Japan and fuel the nation’s growing Web3 sector.
