A cabinet building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo
17:07 JST, May 7, 2024
A review of bills to strengthen the Cabinet Office’s National Ocean Policy Secretariat has been compiled by a bipartisan study group of Diet lawmakers.
The Secretariat serves as the command center for Japan’s fundamental ocean policy strategy. The bills are mainly intended to increase the budget and give more powers.
The bipartisan group plans to submit the bills revising the establishment of the Cabinet Act and the Basic Law on Ocean Policy during the current parliamentary session at the earliest. Members include lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
Currently, the Secretariat’s main role is to coordinate between relevant ministries and agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. She cannot carry out projects independently.
Amid China’s aggressive maritime expansion, there have been calls to boost the Secretariat’s capabilities. It has also been said that the government as a whole should implement ocean policies in an integrated manner to protect Japan’s maritime interests.
The bill to revise the law on the establishment of the Cabinet aims to increase the budget of the Secretariat and stipulates that it can draw up plans related to ocean policy, as well as distributing funds and issuing instructions to relevant ministries and agencies.
There are also plans for the Secretariat to take a leading role in analyzing satellite data related to oceans, through the use of AI.
The draft law to revise the Basic Ocean Policy Law will codify into law Japan’s key ocean strategies in an effort to ensure steady progress. The key strategies were first compiled on April 26.
