Turnaround Fund Chief Seeks Broad-Based Regional Recovery

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Economic revival needs to take place in regions as a whole, not just company by company, the head of a public-private turnaround fund said Monday at a symposium on the role of finance in rekindling domestic growth.

Toshio Seya, president of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan, outlined a proposal to channel 1 trillion yen in investment and financing into local revitalization.

"On the whole," the economic situation at the local level in Japan "is very grim," Seya told the audience at the event, organized by Nikkei Inc.

He called on financial institutions to make active use of the expert-staffed fund, which will reorganize this month into a body focused on regional and small-business aid.

A twice-extended law encouraging lenders to ease credit for small and midsize firms expires this month. While acknowledging it was an emergency measure introduced during the financial crisis, Seya noted that it has prolonged the existence of "companies that would have otherwise died out."

(The Nikkei, March 5 morning edition)

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