Osaka State of Emergency Declaration to be Issued

April 21, 2021 (Wednesday) Fine — Typhoon No. 2 approaching Okinawa

- Osaka Prefecture, on the 20th, requested the government to declare a state of emergency.
In addition to requesting restaurants to close entirely under three plans, the government is also coordinating with large commercial facilities to seek closures.
Preparing for a request as well with Tokyo, and Hyogo Prefecture is also finalizing adjustments.

- Four days after the joint statement in which the U.S. and Japan leaders mentioned Taiwan for the first time in 52 years, President Xi Jinping of China spoke for the first time with the United States and Japan in mind.
Criticized as “not winning public support by instructing other countries and meddling in their internal affairs.”
An analysis also says, “After the talks, China fully positions Japan as ‘a partner of the United States challenging China, aligned with the United States.’”
“For now they are watching how things unfold, but in the future various pressures on Japan will intensify.”
There is a strong possibility that Japan will become an ideal target to test the United States and to keep the administration on its toes.
Those at the forefront are Japanese companies expanding into China. The test of the U.S.-Japan alliance waits with great difficulty.

- Toshiba <6502> [Closing price 4,350 yen] on the 20th,
announced that it has received a letter indicating that it will suspend consideration of an acquisition proposal from the British investment fund CVC Capital Partners.
After CVC's offer, President and CEO Toshiyuki Kurachi resigned, and Chairman Tomo Tsunagawa returned as president.
Tsuna gawa has shown a policy of prioritizing dialogue with shareholders, and the new management is expected to effectively suspend the acquisition negotiations.
Toshiba, in its statement on the 20th, said, “We are convinced at this point that leveraging the advantages of being a listed company will lead to enhanced corporate value.”

- Japan Post Holdings <6178> [Closing price 927.2 yen], under its subsidiary Toll Holdings, Australia,
plans to sell the domestic logistics operations to a local investment fund.
The sale is expected to fetch about 1 billion yen.
Because Toll’s tens of billions of yen in debt would be largely borne by the postal group, a loss on impairment of about 70 billion yen will be recorded in the consolidated results for the fiscal year ending March 2021.

- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres contributed an article to Nihon Keizai Shimbun before the climate change summit called by the Biden administration.
Argued that to curb climate change risks, “the complete abolition of coal-fired power by 2040 is necessary.”

- The acquisition proposal by British investment fund CVC Capital Partners for Toshiba <6502> [Closing price 4,350 yen] has effectively been abandoned.
On the 14th, Toshiba's President and CEO Toshiyuki Kurachi resigned, and with a major change in management,
CVC, which had issued an initial proposal on the 6th, has effectively postponed a full, detailed proposal.
Going forward, Toshiba's management will be expected to present strategies to increase corporate value to activist investors and others, and to raise its stock price.

- The government is expected to receive an additional 50 million doses (25 million people) of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer.
A contract with Pfizer is expected within the month, with delivery by the end of September.

- The government will prepare a framework to allow stockpiles to be shared between Japan and ASEAN in case oil supply is disrupted due to tense Middle East situations.
As a first step, discussions will be opened with Vietnam. Strengthening emergency response to avoid disruption of the supply chain.

- Debates on “extending the life” of nuclear power plants have grown more active.
In terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Tokyo Electric Power Company <9501> [Closing price 321 yen] Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident—the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s screening continues,
and many facilities are approaching their 40-year statutory service life and remain halted.
On the 20th, the Liberal Democratic Party's Comprehensive Energy Strategy Research Council stated that for the next basic energy plan, it will “consider long-term operation measures including the method of operating periods.”

- Global fintech growth is accelerating.
Stripe (U.S.)’s corporate value exceeds 10 trillion yen, and among the world’s top 20 unicorns (unlisted companies valued at $1 billion or more), eight are fintechs.
However, excess liquidity has led to overgrowth beyond real capability, and governance laxity has led to some bankruptcies.

- Taiwan’s Foxconn (Hon Hai) Precision Industry’s planned factory in the U.S. worth over 1 trillion yen has collapsed.
The state government where the factory would have been built announced on the 19th that construction has not progressed and will not grant $40 billion (approximately 4,400 billion yen) in tax incentives.
After a flashy announcement, the giant project is drawing to a close in just under four years.

- The number of new coronavirus infections around the world (death toll year-on-year as of 4/20 4:00 PM), compiled by Johns Hopkins University: Worldwide 114,210,000 cases (10,639 deaths)
U.S. 31,738,228 (477) India 15,320,972 (1,761) Brazil 13,973,695 (1,347) France 5,357,229 (447) Russia 4,667,509 (339) United Kingdom 4,406,114 (6)
Turkey 4,323,596 (341) Italy 3,878,994 (316) Spain 3,429,354 (121) Germany 3,167,137 (301) Argentina 2,714,475 (249) Poland 2,695,327 (101)