The Diet enacted a legislative package Tuesday to revise the law for facilitating the creation of new businesses. The Upper House Special Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises approved that and seven other bills aimed at revamping the operations of small and medium-size businesses. The bills are to complement legislation to revise the 1963 Small and Medium Enterprise Basic Law, which cleared the Diet last month, in supporting a wider range of small and midsize firms and boosting the number of new venture businesses and job opportunities. Having paved the way for larger firms to dispose of excess capacity and undertake mergers and acquisitions, the government is now betting the future of the economy on the growth of small and medium-size firms and creation of venture businesses. Specifically, the legislation is designed for the state to help ease fundraising difficulty of small and midsize enterprises and startups through enhanced government loans and credit guarantees, greater access to direct finance markets and promotion of "angel" investors. It is also expected to help companies beef up business operations, undertake small-business innovation research and other technological development, and secure talented people through provision of greater stock options.
