Three government ministries on Friday presented to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party the outline of a bill to revitalize commercial districts in line with the planned abolition of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law.The bill would allow for a total expenditure of 1.5 trillion yen to bring economic vitality back to old-style shopping districts, most of which are quickly declining. According to the outline, jointly prepared by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Construction Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry, special preferential treatment such as government subsidies and tax breaks would be applied for designated revitalization projects.Local governments are to take the initiative in drawing up the revitalization plans, and the central government would be limited to an advisory role, LDP officials told reporters. They said that the bill will be submitted to the Diet before Feb. 10, the deadline for budget-related bills.Two nonbudget bills -- one to set new rules on the location of large-scale retail stores and another to revise the City Planning Law -- will quickly follow, so that all three bills can be deliberated together, the officials said.
