Japan looks to Turkey's young labor force to revamp its industry

Japan needs a young labor force just like Turkey's to give a jump start to its economy, which has long needed restructuring, said Deputy Japanese Trade and Industry Minister Tadahiro Matsushita in Ankara yesterday. Speaking to the Turkish-Japanese Business Council, Matsushita said, "Turkey and Japan are far from each other geographically, but our countries can join forces to connect the world. In other words, the strong bond between our countries should be a basis for creating a connected world, and we should work harder towards this end." Stating that his country can learn from Turkey's experience, Matsushita stressed the great potential that its young population offers. "We want to benefit from this potential and to achieve stronger economic growth by joining forces with Turkey," he said. On the need to revamp Japan's industrial structure, Matsushita said, "Efforts to this end have always been weak. We also need structural reforms to strengthen our agriculture industry. We need a young population just like Turkey's to do this. We must learn what we can from Turkey's experiences, and build a stronger Japan." State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer, who was invited by Matsushita to visit Japan, also spoke at the meeting, saying, "The high-water mark in Turkish-Japanese trade was $4 billion. The global economic crisis pushed this down to $2.5 billion, but lately it's been picking up again." Lamenting the two countries' trade imbalance, Caglayan said, "Turkey's exports to Japan total only $330 million, meaning that our share of Japan's imports is only three per thousand." Caglayan also said that a Japanese refrigerator maker plans to move its factory in Belgium to Turkey.