JAPAN and the WORLD Magazine OCTOBER ISSUE 2015 #Issue 13 | Page 54

G7 INTERNATIONAL JAPAN QA INTERVIEW: MR. MOTOYUKI ODACHI Member of the House of Councilors WORDS: MANA SANZA IN PREPARATION FOR G7 SUMMIT G7首脳会議への準備 JAPAN and the WORLD conducted interview with Mr. Motoyuki Odachi, Member of the House of Councilors, to find out more about the next year G7 Summit taking place in Japan. ジャパン・アンド・ザ・ワールドは、 日本で開 催される来年の主要7か国(G7)首脳会議( サミット)について尾立源幸参議院議員に インタビューを行いました。 Mr. Motoyuki Odachi Member of the House of Councilors. In May 2016, the 42nd G7 Summit will be held in Japan. Since the holding of the 41st G7 Summit in June 2015, many regions around the world have been experiencing economic crises. What kind of economic issues are likely to be on the agenda for discussion at the G7 Summit in 2016? It is still too early to say what topics will be discussed at the May 2016 G7 Summit. However, one area that is likely to be a focus of attention is Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS); Japan’s Deputy Vice Minister of Finance is currently chair of the OECD’s Committee on Fiscal Affairs, which has responsibility for BEPS-related matters. Leading international corporations such as Starbucks and Apple devise amazingly 53 // OCTOBER 2015 complex schemes to avoid paying tax in particular countries. Without cooperation at a global level, these companies will be able to exploit individual countries that have loopholes in their tax legislation, so it is entirely appropriate for the discussion about BEPS to be positioned as a global issue. A further issue relates to the fact that, with the coming to an end of quantitative easing in the U.S., it is anticipated that, in autumn 2015, interest rates in the U.S. will be allowed to rise from their current level of near zero. Japan has been steadily printing money under its “quantitative and qualitative easing” (QQE), an unprecedented form of monetary easing, but this cannot continue forever, and it can be anticipated that the question of what Japan should do in the future in this regard will also be discussed at the next G7 Summit. Japan has been steadily printing money under its “quantitative and qualitative easing” (QQE), an unprecedented form of monetary easing, but this cannot continue forever, and it can be anticipated that the question of what Japan should do in the future in this regard will also be discussed at the next G7 Summit. JAPAN AND THE WORLD MAGAZINE