Ambassador From Japan
Speaks in Lexington
The Japanese ambassador to the United States visited Kentucky
for the first time yesterday and brought good news. "The
Japanese economy is now back on track after struggling for 15
years," His Excellency Ryozo Kato said during a luncheon
sponsored by the Japan America Society of Kentucky and the Kentucky
World Trade Center. Kato said the Japanese economy was turned
around largely by domestic spending, which is also a major driver
of the U.S. economy. Japanese companies have eliminated excess
production capacity, paid down debt, and banks have sharply
reduced non-performing loans, Kato said. Corporate earnings
are up, hiring has resumed and "salaries are increasing
after seven years of declines." Japan is committed to continuing
economic reforms so the recovery will not lose steam, he said.
Japanese companies employ 600,000 Americans, including 37,000
in Kentucky. "
As far as foreign investment goes, Japan is now
the No. 1 investor in Kentucky," Kato said. "Even
our habits and lifestyles have intertwined," he observed,
with Americans eating sushi and Japanese eating KFC chicken
dinners. Kato said Japan, the oldest democracy in Asia, and
the United States agree on most issues. They are working closely
together on establishing peace and security in Asia and the
Middle East, and on countering the spread of bird flu. But differences
remain over some defense and economic issues, and over methods
to stop terrorists without deterring tourists. The economies
of the U.S. and Japan represent 40 percent of the world's gross
domestic product, Kato said, so the two countries have a lot
of clout in solving world economic problems if they stand together.
On a lighter note, Kato was given the key to the city of Lexington
by Mayor Teresa Isaac and commissioned a Kentucky Colonel by
Gov. Ernie Fletcher yesterday. He observed that "it seems
my responsibilities to Kentucky are very large and very heavy
now."
