The Development and the Institutional Issues of Environmental Industry in Asia

ABSTRACT

It is necessary for today's Japan, a country that promotes recycling through the enactment of the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-based Society, to look to the establishment of an Asia-wide recyclable society. The government must make its "National Environmental Principles Declaration" and set its sights on making Japan the world's top runner in recyclable society building.

Many problems surround the implementation of Japan's environmental plans, and many moral hazards have emerged. In order to extricate itself from these dilemmas, it is necessary to take a stricter stance toward national policy, to more fully adapt the systems to present realities, and to extend and sharpen those environmental restrictions that can be more thoroughgoing. On the other hand, it is necessary to loosen or eliminate those restrictions that are unrealistic in order to improve the effectiveness of the system as a whole. Trimming and sharpening the system in this way would not only make the management of these restrictions more effective, but it would also reintroduce a competition that would force out companies with poor efficiency and correct high cost tendencies in the market.

In order to nurture the Asian environmental industry, it is important to emphasize the policy of "sending people, not things." While, personnel dispatches are more effective, such a policy would meanwhile lead to higher human resource mobility and an increase in the population of people who have had experiences abroad.

It is necessary that Japan establish private sector led environmental funds and create a supply of order capital for the environmental industries of developing countries. The government should, moreover, encourage investment by expanding export credit guarantees and lowering the premiums of trade insurance. Insurance coverage for currency fluctuations should also be reinforced, and the national support for product liability risk must be strengthened.

Aid towards developing nations lacks credibility if it is based solely on the pursuit of national interests. Thus, the environment must be placed in the forefront, and all of Japan's foreign aid programs must be reorganized around the key theme of 'environment.' Moreover, it is important that the support of 'people' become the central object of these programs. More than just involvement in environmental efforts, Japan must also participate in the project development process, from feasibility study to implementation, of multi-faceted projects in areas like traffic network improvement, urban renewal, and technological cooperation. Furthermore, dispatched personnel should work together with local "development strategy teams" to formulate the recommendations for these projects. It is important to setup, in each country, a market structures in which environmental businesses compete, even while receiving personnel support. Finally, the focused distribution of funds for the cultivation of these human resources in Japan is something that requires the utmost attention with regard to fostering an environmental industry.