Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro (小泉進次郎) inspected the former site of the Kure area of Nippon Steel's Setouchi Works in Kure, approximately 130 hectares, and indicated plans to develop it promptly as a multifunctional defense hub with Self-Defense Force buildings and defense equipment manufacturing facilities. Plans also call for attracting private-sector companies to the site, raising expectations for expanded local employment and economic revitalization.
Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro (小泉進次郎) inspected on the 7th the former site of the Kure area of Nippon Steel's Setouchi Works, which was acquired from Nippon Steel, and expressed his eagerness to accelerate its development. The site is to become a multifunctional defense hub with Self-Defense Force buildings and defense equipment manufacturing facilities, he told reporters in Etajima.
He emphasized that, in light of Russia's protracted invasion of Ukraine, the project is an important initiative that will help secure sustained response capabilities and strengthen Japan's domestic production base for defense equipment.
Plans call for attracting private-sector companies involved in defense equipment to the site, raising expectations locally for expanded employment and economic revitalization. Koizumi said the recruitment of companies began on the 1st of this month and that they would be selected while taking their contribution to the local economy into account.