Tokyo, Sep 16 (EFE).- While Japan's new prime minister Yoshihide Suga has not made many concrete proposals that his government will be pursuing and has generally made it clear that he will continue in line with the policies adopted by his successor, Shinzo Abe, since being elected by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party as its new leader, he has referred to some specific measures.

They include the following:

1. Mobile phone tariffs

Suga has promised to reduce the tariffs of mobile phones, a market dominated by three major operators - DoCoMo, Softbank and KDDI - a situation he has described as an "oligopoly."

He considers tariffs in Japan to be high in comparison to those in other developed countries and has said there is a lot of scope for them to be reduced. Two years ago, he suggested a tariff cut of around 40 percent.

2. Digitization of public administration

Suga has rued that governance in Japan has not developed sufficiently. He is promoting greater use of a registration system with a number for all Japanese and residents of the country.

Currently, there is no national identity card in Japan but the government has created a system (My Number) that attempts to unify criteria. Suga wants to push that tool forward, saying that it will allow people use it at any time without having to go to offices.

3. SMEs

He wants to strengthen the country's system of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), of which there are about 3.6 million and which represent 99.7 percent of all Japanese companies, according to official data. He seeks to promote the integration of SMEs to strengthen their position within the framework of corporate activity.

4. Fertility

Suga has come out in favor of fertility treatment being covered by health insurance. Japan has a very low fertility rate - 140 births per 100 women - and has a progressively aging population. In 2019, those aged over 65 reached a record level of 28.4 percent. According to the financial daily Nikkei, fertility treatment can cost more than 1 million yen ($9,490) and many families are unable to cover that expense. EFE

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