JETRO Invest Japan Report 2022
Chapter3. Recent Government Policies Section2. Amended 5G Promotion Act

The global progress of digitalization has reaffirmed the significance of semiconductors as vital products. The usage of semiconductors is expanding into all industries, including automobiles and medical equipment. Securing semiconductors is essential from an economic security perspective, as the global supply-demand situation is tightening. In order to establish a stable production system for semiconductors in Japan, revisions of the laws concerning supporting semiconductor-related capital investment were enacted in December 2021 and went into effect in March 2022.

Specifically, the Act on Promotion of Developing/Supplying and Introducing Systems Making Use of Specified Advanced Information Communication Technologies (5G Promotion Act) and Act on the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO Act) were partially revised. The revised 5G Promotion Act establishes a certification program concerning plans to develop production facilities for high-performance semiconductors in Japan (Chart 3-2). Plans certified by the revised NEDO Act will be eligible for receiving grants.

Chart 3-2: Certification program and support for high-performance semiconductor production facilities, etc.
Support target	The program certifies plans to develop and produce production facilities for specified semiconductors1, etc. 1 Semiconductors that enable high-speed processing of large amounts of information essential for 5G information and communication systems and that are specified that stable production in Japan are especially necessary due to limited international production capacity.
Certification criteria	(a) Conformity to guidelines, the certainty of project implementation (b) Continuous production over a specific period (c) Contribution to stable domestic production (Investment to increase production, expand production capacity under tight supply, and for R&D, etc.) (d) Establishment of a system to manage technological information
Support measures	The following support measures for projects associated with the certified plan are available under specific conditions: 1. Loans by Japan Finance Corporation to financial institutions that provide loans for businesses (support for supporting financial institutions) 2. Subscription of shares issued by a joint stock company established to implement the project by Small and Medium Business Investment & Consultant Co., Ltd.(support and fundraising)2 2 A government agency that provides long-term stable funds to growth-oriented venture companies, SMEs/medium-sized enterprises to support business stabilization and corporate growth while enhancing capital adequacy 3. Application of Special Provisions of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Credit Insurance Act, which provides certain guarantees for loans to SMEs for business innovation (support in terms of guarantees for loans) 4．Subsidies3 for certified businesses by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and interest subsidies to financial institutions that provide loans to certified businesses 3 See Chapter 3 (3)