yet many obstacles preventing the door from fully opening. We are well aware that the present situation should be improved and we have set our attention first to the countries for which altering the regulations will be least problematic. We will start with China and will then move on to another and so on.
I also agree with Mr. Ido on the issue of the budget of JNTO and we are making various requests to the government. At the same time we hope to develop effective strategies to invite foreign tourists but within a limited budget, for with a national budget deficit of 400 trillion yen, raising extra money is a very difficult task for the Ministry of Finance.
It was pointed out that more Japanese people should go abroad on account of the trade surplus in Japan. But our concept, rather than concentrating on the trade balance in an economic sense, is that it is important to provide as many occasions as possible in which foreigners can deepen their understanding of our country, and that is why we have formulated and are moving on with various schemes, such as the Welcome Plan 21 as explained by Mr. Shimizu. I know I was not asked to comment on this, but I wanted to offer some information. Thank you.
Mr. Abe : To tell the truth, I wanted to bring up the subject of the Ministry of Transport's position when summarizing the symposium but Mr. Washizu has caught the ball before it bounced.
I am sure you have further questions but the time is almost up and you have already spent a long time in your seats, so I would like to finish this symposium with a short presentation from each panelist.
Today we have hosted a panel discussion on infrastructure for Kansai's inbound tourism. What then is now needed to promote international tourism in each community and what roles can the APTEC play?
May I ask you to suggest something on this, Mr. Ido.
Mr Ido : Although we have been concentrating on the overseas forums, we intend to expand them from just history and culture to include the new movements in the Kansai region. This is why we renamed ourselves the "Kansai Forum," and since then we have carried out this project together with other organizations. At the same time, there are several proposals, though only the bare bones of a plan is being discussed at present. One idea is to combine the Romantik StraBe in Germany and the Maple Road in Canada with various trips arranged for Asian tourists. The other is a joint venture with Korea to develop holidays for American tourists. Such proposals require substantial cooperation and so the offering of such ideas assures me that the talks have advanced well so far.
Talking about each community, there are many people who want to take full advantage of what is on offer, but despite this, the organization system is still lacking sufficient volunteers and efficient planning. Therefore, we need to upgrade it in cooperation with the "i Center" which is in operaion.
My suggestion is to establish an organization in each region, one in Kyushu and one in Kansai for example, to accept foreign tourists and make all the necessary arrangements for them, which can be managed by people who have retired from work at travel agencies. I hope the Ministry of Transport and the APTEC take the initiative to organize such agencies, forming a reliable, self-run organization that can be called upon at anytime.
Prof. Abe : Thank you, Mr. Ido. His suggestion also indicates a useful way of occupying elderly people in an aging society. Ms. Uehara, please.
Ms. Uehara : I would like to talk about something from the viewpoint of transforming a city. We are creating a cultural facility named the Biwako Hall and I think that in implementing such a project, it is important to look at it from the outsider's viewpoint.
As Mr. Ido pointed out in his speech, it is more important to be associated with the outside world
