A business world reeling from the prolonged pandemic is welcoming the long-awaited lifeline that would be extended by a government plan to ease restrictions on economic activities.
"I support it," Kirin Holdings Co. President Yoshinori Isozaki told reporters Thursday in Tokyo. "It's only natural that restaurants and customers are at a dead end and are suffocating."
A source at a major izakaya pub chain said: "It will be a big step forward as long as safe conditions can be ensured while the curbs are relaxed. We are paying close attention to how it will be applied."
At the start of the online summer seminar of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) on Thursday, Chairman Kengo Sakurada said: "It's a bit late, but not bad. We want it to start successfully."
Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) Chairman Masakazu Tokura said in a statement, "We view government policies that revitalize social and economic activities as highly favorable."
Food, tourism and micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses are the industries that have been most affected by the restrictions.
According to the Japan Foodservice Association, sales at restaurant chains in July fell 13.7% from the same month in 2019 prior to the coronavirus outbreak. Within that fall was a whopping 70% plunge at bars and izakaya pubs.
The Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), comprising small- and medium-sized enterprises nationwide, found in a survey in August that 30% of its members saw sales drop more than 30% compared to pre-pandemic days.
Amid the repeated declarations and extensions of the state of emergency, the business community has recently made clear its moves toward normalizing socioeconomic activities.
Keidanren announced Monday a proposal calling for the exemption of vaccinated people from mandatory quarantine after entry in Japan.
JCCI Chairman Akio Mimura, speaking at a press conference on Sept. 2, pointed out that "the effectiveness [of vaccines] has already been clearly proven" in preventing serious illnesses and deaths, a clear endorsement of the notion that the vaccinated should receive preferential treatment.
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