Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is planning to develop a scheme to support Japanese companies involved in overseas smart community business projects.
Funding support will be provided for special purpose companies (SPCs) established by Japanese consortiums to conduct these business projects. Entry into overseas markets by private sector companies will be promoted by strengthening support for the high-risk initial periods of projects.
Smart community business related to urban development in Southeast Asian and other emerging countries is expected to develop rapidly. Although Japan’s New Energy Development Organization (NEDO) has been working to evaluate the requirements for each country through demonstration projects, an issue has been how the government would provide capital support for the high-risk early stages.
METI’s policy assumes that while core private sector companies will be the main investors, it will provide funding for the SPCs conducting these business projects. One approach being considered involves government financial and funding agencies to work together to provide risk money for a period of about 5 to 7 years from engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) to initial operation to support smart community-related systems.
