Policy Background and Cabinet Decision
On September 2, Reiwa 7, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) established and notified local governments nationwide of the "Wide Area Region Cooperation Promotion Guidelines." These guidelines are positioned as one of the five pillars of Regional Revitalization 2.0 "Reiwa Japanese Archipelago Transformation" announced in Prime Minister Ishiba's policy speech (January 24, Reiwa 7), and were formulated based on the "Regional Revitalization 2.0 Basic Concept" (Cabinet decision on June 13 of the same year).
System Design for Wide Area Regional Cooperation
New Wide Area Cooperation Framework: Establishing organizations where diverse entities including local governments, economic organizations, companies, universities, and research institutions collaborate across multiple prefectural boundaries. Each entity jointly conducts "Wide Area Region Cooperation Declarations" to share their desired future vision.
Specific Implementation Process:
- Joint implementation of Wide Area Region Cooperation Declarations
- Formulation of Wide Area Region Cooperation Vision
- Sustainable implementation of multiple projects based on the vision
- Collaborative initiatives for regional growth and innovation creation
National Support System
Cross-Ministry Support: For wide area regions that have made declarations, the government plans to provide cross-ministry support for growth and innovation creation initiatives across areas and sectors. The government will provide necessary support measures on a cross-ministry basis (specific support measure details to be presented later).
New Development of Regional Revitalization
Differentiation from Conventional Approaches: Through wide area cooperation beyond prefectural boundaries, regional growth policies are implemented comprehensively and effectively across areas. This is positioned as a larger-scale, more strategic regional development policy that goes beyond single municipalities or conventional wide area unions.
Working in collaboration with the Cabinet Office's Regional Revitalization 2.0 policy, it functions as a core system within the comprehensive regional development strategy called "Reiwa Japanese Archipelago Transformation."