On May 31, the Japanese government finalized the 2022 version of the "Manufacturing White Paper" at a cabinet meeting. The white paper pointed out that Japan's manufacturing industry has been severely affected by the global semiconductor shortage, emphasizing the importance of strengthening the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry.

According to a report by Kyodo News on May 31, the Japanese government's 2022 edition of the "Manufacturing White Paper" stated that "it is necessary to work to strengthen the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry", emphasizing that stable supply is the "most important issue in security" in the digital society.

The white paper also analyzes the societal factors that affect spillover manufacturing projects. In the multiple-choice answers on influencing factors for two consecutive years, most companies mentioned "the expansion of the new crown epidemic" in 2020, accounting for 79%; while the most answered in 2021 was "rising raw material prices", accounting for 79.8%, "Semiconductor shortage" reached 49.3%.

As a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, "the price of crude oil, which was already on an upward trend, has further surged, leading to increased production costs in industries centered on raw materials," the white paper said.

In addition, the white paper also explicitly writes about the need for decarbonization of raw material industries such as steel and chemicals. The document also calls for enhancing Japan's competitiveness in digital technologies such as 5G mobile communication systems that can communicate massive amounts of data and quantum computers that can rapidly increase computer processing speed