News
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) unveiled a budget proposal for fiscal 2026 (April 2026-March 2027) late last year, requesting ¥26.59 billion (US$1.7 billion) for its Ports and Harbours Bureau, which would remain nearly unchanged from the previous fiscal year. The total consists of ¥26.33 billion for public projects, unchanged, and ¥2.66 billion for non-public projects, up 1%.
More specifically, ¥66.61 billion is earmarked to enhance the international strategic container ports, ¥11.87 billion to upgrade domestic ferry and Ro/Ro terminals, and ¥126.08 billion to promote disaster prevention and mitigation as well as to build national resilience.
As a new project, the MLIT intends to introduce remote-control gantry cranes to promote AI terminals to assist workers to improve labor conditions and upgrade and stabilize cargo-handling capabilities at container terminals. The ministry would also like to sophisticate chassis and container location management to improve work environments and productivity.
As for tax-related matters, the special tax measure for replacing work vessels for port and harbor development, maintenance and management as well as disaster prevention will be extended for two years.
