FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedin Japan has launched the first phase of a major investment program aimed at revitalizing its shipbuilding industry, with the government committing to support projects worth a combined 600 billion yen (US$3.8 billion). Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Yasushi Kaneko recently announced the first round of investments, placing shipbuilding among the country’s 17 designated priority investment sectors. As reported, of the total investment, approximately US$1.4 billion will come from the government, marking a significant step in Tokyo’s efforts to rebuild the competitiveness of a sector that has steadily lost global market share. RelatedNews US and Iran trade strikes raising fresh threat to tanker traffic Kpler: Venezuela weighs potential OPEC exit as oil production recovers var jnews_module_21381346_0_6a9e9247104e2 = {"header_icon":"","first_title":"Related","second_title":"News","url":"","header_type":"heading_8","header_background":"","header_secondary_background":"","header_text_color":"","header_line_color":"","header_accent_color":"","header_filter_category":"","header_filter_author":"","header_filter_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_post_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_tribe_events_cat":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_category":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_tag":"","header_filter_text":"All","sticky_post":false,"sticky_post_filter":false,"post_type":"post","content_type":"all","sponsor":false,"number_post":"2","post_offset":0,"unique_content":"unique1","include_post":"","included_only":false,"exclude_post":"21381346","include_category":"","exclude_category":"","include_author":"","include_tag":"1058,128,236,3671,1582","exclude_tag":"","exclude_visited_post":false,"post_tag":"","tribe_events_cat":"","web_story_category":"","web_story_tag":"","sort_by":"latest","show_date":"","date_format":"default","date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","pagination_mode":"disable","pagination_nextprev_showtext":"","pagination_number_post":"2