TOKYO (Bloomberg): A US business group in Japan welcomed the country’s limited opening of its borders to new foreign entrants, while urging that the cap on numbers be raised and "nightmare” bureaucratic processes streamlined.
Christopher LaFleur, special adviser to the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, told Bloomberg TV on Monday (Feb 21) that phased plans starting next week to ease some of the developed world’s strictest pandemic border controls would be closely watched by the business community.
The first step begins March 1 when the government opens borders to new foreign arrivals other than tourists and raises the cap on daily arrivals to 5,000 from the current 3,500.
The ban on new foreign entrants had been heavily criticised by business groups and left hundreds of thousands of people in limbo.
LaFleur said that move would still mean slow progress on clearing a backlog of would-be new entrants.
"Looking at the numbers and adjusting them depending on what the demand is, is going to be critical,” LaFleur said.
In announcing the easing last week, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the pace of infections was slowing down, while adding caution was still needed and Japan "couldn’t afford to let down its guard,” given that a delayed rise in serious cases might still occur.
"Japan when it first announced an opening policy last November, one that it had to walk back three weeks later, erected a paperwork nightmare of bureaucratic processes,” LaFleur said. "Those need to be streamlined and Japan needs to put into this effort the resources necessary.”
Such difficulties factor into corporate decisions on supply chains and where to locate regional headquarters, Om Prakash, chair of the chamber, also told Bloomberg Television. "In a competitive environment, that’s not worked well for our member companies here in Tokyo.”
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