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Suzuki Motor on Thursday announced a target to achieve an operating profit of ¥800 billion ($5.32 billion) in fiscal 2030, up from ¥465.5 billion in fiscal 2023. In its new medium-term business plan, the automaker also included a goal to increase its sales to ¥8 trillion in the fiscal year beginning April 2030 from ¥5,374.2 billion in fiscal 2023. Suzuki will spend ¥4 trillion on research and development and capital investment over the six years to fiscal 2030 covered by the business plan. It aims to boost its global vehicle sales to 4.2 million units in fiscal 2030 from 3.16 million units in fiscal 2023 by expanding the lineup of electric vehicles for the Japanese market and strengthening its production system in India. The automaker set a target of raising its operating profit margin to 10% from 8.7%. In India, which is positioned as the most important market for Suzuki, the company aims to increase its share of vehicle sales to 50%. It aims to strengthen the role of its plants in India as an export base for the world and build a production system of 4 million units per year in the country. Also under the business plan, the automaker aims to sell 2.54 million motorcycles worldwide, up from 1.91 million units, hoping to strengthen sales in North America and Europe. President Toshihiro Suzuki said in a press conference, “We aim to increase the value of Suzuki Motor products so that they will continue to be chosen (by customers).” Source link

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are gaining attention in Japan as a way for financially strained local governments to revitalize aging port green areas by utilizing private-sector funding and expertise. Under the PPP system, local governments lease port green areas to private businesses, allowing them to develop the spaces into attractive destinations. In return, a portion of the profits is allocated to support the maintenance and management of public facilities. Many local governments across the nation are inviting businesses to boost the appeal of port areas by developing commercial facilities and cafes. Startup companies are also showing interest in making better use of these spaces. Source link

KKR has secured enough shares of Fuji Soft in a tender offer to take the company private, formally ending a months-long bidding war against Bain Capital. Completion of the two-stage offer will give KKR a 57.92% stake in the Japanese software company, the New York-based firm said in a statement on Thursday. It aims to acquire the remaining shares through a squeeze-out process at an extraordinary shareholder meeting scheduled for late April. Bain Capital said earlier this week that it decided not to increase its offer price and proceed with a previously announced hostile bid for Yokohama-based Fuji Soft. The two investment firms had both raised their offers multiple times in recent months. KKR’s most recent bid at ¥9,850 per share, announced in early February, values Fuji Soft at around $4.4 billion. Source link

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan appears to be struggling to make a distinctive mark on budget negotiations through ongoing talks as policy wrangling on education and tax reform between the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito coalition and opposition parties heats up more than ever before. Wednesday’s session of the Lower House Budget Committee, chaired by CDP lawmaker Jun Azumi, was abruptly postponed over a dispute about how to question Junichiro Matsumoto, 77, a former accountant of the LDP’s now-defunct faction led by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, about issues with the past handling of funds from faction-run fundraising parties. As veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — an utmost priority for the government — Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, along with some of his Cabinet members and lawmakers, were seen on live television visibly bored as they waited for the session to start, and exiting as it became clear the business that had been expected Wednesday would be called off. Source link

When freelance journalist Shiori Ito won her lawsuit against prominent reporter Noriyuki Yamaguchi in a rape case in 2019, it seemed like one of Japan’s most high-profile #MeToo cases had come to an end. Yet five years later, debates surrounding Ito, now 35, have resurfaced, this time regarding her internationally acclaimed documentary “Black Box Diaries.” The documentary, based on her memoir, is a first-person feature that captures her experience following the rape incident and how society responded to her revelation, including the reluctance by authorities to take action. Source link

Washington – U.S. President Donald Trump touted his country’s alliance with Japan in a statement released Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima in the closing days of World War II. “In spite of a brutal war, the United States-Japan alliance represents the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” the statement said. The bloody battle fought on the Pacific island between February and March of 1945 claimed some 21,900 lives on the Japanese side and about 6,800 among American forces. Iwo Jima, part of Tokyo and now known formally as Ioto, is located some 1,250 kilometers south of the capital. While upholding his “America First” policy and transactional diplomacy, Trump has been emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship since his first term, from 2017 to 2021. At his first face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Washington on Feb. 7, Trump said that the United States is fully committed to the security of Japan. Source link

The yen hit its strongest level against the dollar since December, beating all major currencies’ performances on Thursday amid growing speculation the Bank of Japan will hike rates sooner rather than later. Japan’s currency climbed as much as 0.7% to ¥150.46 against the dollar, a level it hasn’t touched since Dec. 9. Government bond yields are also on the rise, with the 10-year benchmark hitting its highest level since 2009. Overnight index swaps are pricing in an 83% chance of a rate hike by the central bank’s July meeting, compared with about 70% odds at the start of this month, with a hike now seen as certain by September. BOJ Board Member Hajime Takata said on Wednesday that it’s important to continue considering gradual rate hikes, while also noting that Japan’s bond yields are moving in line with the market’s view of the economy. Japan’s recent data has also supported the BOJ’s case for raising rates, with gross domestic product outperforming forecasts and nominal wages jumping by the fastest pace in nearly three decades. Source link

London – Dozens of Russians are being subjected to compulsory psychiatric treatment because of their political views, according to lawyers and human rights groups — a trend they say has gathered pace since the start of the war in Ukraine. The practice carries echoes of a method of control used widely in the Soviet Union and known as “punitive psychiatry,” even if the current scale falls far short of that seen from the late 1960s until the early 1980s. For this story, Reuters analyzed data from an international expert and two Russian human rights groups, interviewed three lawyers and reviewed case materials of two female activists sent by court order to undergo psychiatric assessments at a Siberian hospital. Source link

For Chinese President Xi Jinping, an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine brings many opportunities and one major threat: China would suddenly become the main focus of the U.S. military. U.S. and Russian officials have started talks in Saudi Arabia to negotiate an end to the three-year war, prompting deep concern in Europe and Ukraine itself over whether Donald Trump will effectively hand a victory to Vladimir Putin. China has publicly welcomed the talks, and is positioning itself to benefit from reconstruction efforts — as well as the deepening rift among the U.S. and its allies over NATO, the meaning of democracy and the international rules-based order. The one major problem for Beijing is what Trump plans to do next. The comments from those around the Republican, including Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and his eldest son Donald Trump Jr., indicate the U.S. wants to focus the bulk of its military assets on countering China. Source link

More than 60% of Japanese companies — a record high percentage — plan to raise workers’ wages in the next fiscal year beginning April as they fight to recruit and retain staff, according to a survey by Teikoku Databank. Some 61.9% of over 11,000 surveyed companies intend to pledge pay increases as part of annual wage negotiations culminating in March, the report Thursday showed. A year ago, when the wage talks ultimately resulted in the biggest increases in decades, 59.7% of companies surveyed by Teikoku flagged pending hikes. About 56% of surveyed firms said they plan to raise base salaries, also marking the highest percentage since the data firm began tracking this question in 2007. The survey was conducted in late January. Source link