Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Monday unveiled the breakdown of a 700 billion yen special budget that places special emphasis on efforts to realize an information technology "revolution" in Japan.
The special budget, part of the expected 83 trillion yen national budget for fiscal 2001, focuses on four areas -- IT, urban development, the environment and the aging of society. The prime minister allotted 250 billion yen to IT promotion, which includes a research project to develop an ultra-high-speed fiber-optic communications network as well as a scheme to create a paperless "e-government," according to officials at the Prime Minister's Office.
Some 204 billion yen was allotted to urban development projects -- mostly measures to alleviate traffic in big cities.