The Consulate general of Japan addressed the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg asking it to inform Petersburgers about the recovery processes in Japan after the devastative disaster of 2011.
The Consulate general of Japan addressed the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg asking it to inform Petersburgers about the recovery processes in Japan after the devastative disaster of 2011.
St. Petersburg among other cities of the world was responsive on the suffering of the people of Japan: fund raising and collection of the articles of prime necessity were organized, as well as events for providing support to Japan. The information provided by the Consulate general of Japan in St. Petersburg:
The main priority of Japan after the earthquake is to promote the recovery process. The Japanese government has formulated three strategies such as: economic recovery, reconstruction and crisis management:
Over 10 trillion Yens (about 106 billion US dollars) will be assigned to stimulate the economy by creating jobs, promoting innovation, carrying out reconstruction works, rising internal demand and opening global opportunities.
The reconstruction budget was increased from 19 trillion Yens up to 25 trillion Yens for the period between 2011 and 2015 financial years (from 202 billion up to 266 billion US dollars.
Japan invested 2,2 trillion Yens (about 23,4 billion US dollars) into the recovery and crisis management of public infrastructure such as schools, highways and bridges.
Information regarding the recovery of Japan after the earthquake:
Directly after the earthquake and the tsunami stroke 470 thousands of people were evacuated, public and temporal accommodation was created, where all 320 thousands of displaced persons were allocated.
The political initiatives of building disaster-proof cities are being implemented, among which there are the projects of relocation from certain areas to safe regions with higher terrain altitude (276 regions and 26 municipal units) and the ones of correction and adaptation of the terrain altitude in 58 blocks of houses and 19 municipal units.
The vital infrastructure such as the principal highways and railways were instantly repaired, and the essential public services were timely recovered. The mentioned services include 165 of 184 hospitals, among which 90% got back to work, and 1,801 of 2,325 schools, among which in 77% continued the educational process.
The manufacturing facilities destroyed by the earthquake, among which there are car companies, are looking forward to return its level of competitive performance.
The number of tourists has returned to the past indexes. In 2012. 8,37 millions of foreign tourists visited Japan, which means a considerable improvement (6,22 millions of foreign tourists more than in 2011). As to the internal tourism, Japan has returned to the indexes it had before the earthquake. Japan welcomes tourists from all over the world.
The Japanese government undertook to provide budget financing to the affected areas ranging from 6 up to 25 trillion Yens (about 266 billion US dollars) for five years starting from financial year 2011.
Japan also undertakes to share with the international community the knowledge and experience acquired after the earthquake and during the recovery process which followed. In this respect Japan arranged the World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku last year in July, the Sendai Dialogue in October, as well as the World Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety in December. What is more, Japan will welcome the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Reduction in the beginning of 2015 and will do its best to present an efficient framework agreement based on the Hyogo Phoenix Plan. Japan will contribute to the reduction of disasters by elaborating the mentioned framework agreement on the implementation of the Hyogo Phoenix Plan after 2015.
In June 2013 Japan will house the 5th Tokyo International conference on African development (TICAD V). It is a top-level meeting held every 5 years established 20 ago by Japan and its African partner. Japan is planning to deepen its relations with African countries and continue close cooperation with them towards common aims and ambitions.
In April 2012 Japan introduced the New Standard Limits for Radionuclides in Foods and a rigorous examination process. Japan will make all the effort in order to guarantee the safety of its food. The concentration level was reduced from 5 mSv/year to 1 mSv/year. This means that for ordinary foods the limit now corresponds to one fifth part of the old level. This decision was based on the guidelines provided by the Codex Alimentarius and the Food safety commission. Their requirements are fundamented by scientific research data obtained from over 3,300 internal and international reports on the influence of radiation on health presented by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Taking into account the above mentioned data the USA have eased restrictions on the import of Japanese products by virtue of the new safety standards. Moreover, 9 countries (Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Guinea, Myanmar and Serbia) have eliminated the radionuclide limits for the food imported from Japan. Then, in October 2012, the European Union also decided to ease considerably the restrictions on food imported from Japan.
Japan will proceed with its measures against the global warming, which include the energy saving principles and the use of renewable (alternative) energy, which will contribute to the development of low-carbon community. Basing on this, Japan will completely revise the objective consisting in a 25% reduction of carbon dioxide emission and elaborate an efficient diplomatic strategy against the global warming.