中小の業態転換支援　菅首相、３次補正に反映指示―官民会議

　中小企業の経営環境の改善策を官民で話し合う「未来を拓くパートナーシップ構築推進会議」は１８日の会合で、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大で厳しい状況が続く中小企業への支援策を取りまとめる方針で一致した。収益向上が見込める業態への転換やデジタル化の促進が柱となる見通し。年末に策定する２０２０年度第３次補正予算案に反映させたい考えだ。
　会合には関係閣僚に加え、経団連や連合など政労使の関係機関の代表らが出席した。菅義偉首相は席上で「中小企業が中堅企業に成長し、海外で競争できるような企業を増やしていくことが重要だ」と述べ、関係閣僚に支援策の検討加速を指示した。（2020/11/18-22:19）

A public-private council at a meeting on Wednesday decided to draw up a support package for small Japanese companies struggling in the face of the novel coronavirus epidemic.
   The package is expected to include measures to help small firms switch to businesses with high profitability and promote digitalization of their operations. The council hopes to have these steps reflected in the government's fiscal 2020 third supplementary budget, seen to be compiled in late December.
   The meeting was attended by relevant cabinet ministers, as well as representatives from labor and management organizations, including the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo.
   Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga instructed participating ministers to accelerate work to come up with the package, saying, "It's important that small firms will expand their operations and develop into midsize enterprises so that there will be an increase in the number of internationally competitive Japanese companies."
   Participants in the meeting confirmed plans to compile by the end of March 2021 guidelines for preventing small companies from being forced to offer their intellectual property rights, such as patents, and business know-how to large businesses and for blocking unauthorized use of such rights and expertise. Contract forms designed to make sure that such malpractice will not happen are also planned to be drawn up.