The government is considering reforming legal structures in order to create jobs in rural areas, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Koya Nishikawa said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.

“Creating job opportunities is essential to keeping regional economies vital,” Nishikawa stressed, adding that the government “wants to improve legal structures with a fresh mindset.”

Nishikawa said he has already told ministry officials to consider how to revise existing laws on business location and whether new legislation is necessary.

Through the envisaged reform, existing preferential treatment, including special measures for cropland diversion and tax breaks based on separate laws, would be applied as a package in order to encourage food-related industries to establish business footholds in rural areas.