RIETI is Japan's first policy think tank established as an incorporated administrative agency. It was launched in 2001 with the aim of conducting effective and efficient research on economic and industrial policy. This year, RIETI enters the third year of its sixth medium-term plan. This plan sets an ambitious goal of achieving policy contributions as its most important mission, while further advancing our world-class research, regarded as one of the top economic institutes in Asia.
The most important foundation for policy contribution is high-quality economic research. At RIETI, 69 research projects are organized into seven programs, each overseen by a program director. Aiming to invigorate research projects and enhance contributions to policy, regular dialogues have been initiated since 2024 between the program directors, RIETI executives, and relevant bureaus and divisions at METI.
Furthermore, RIETI has begun working on various initiatives to meet new policy needs, such as analysis of the impact of increased capital investment in Japan, the adoption of AI and robotics on industrial and employment structures and the domestic interregional division of labor, and research on supply chain vulnerabilities and strategic criticality to support economic security policies.
The world today is on the verge of a historic turning point, driven by factors such as the Trump administration’s “America First” policies and the deepening confrontation between the China-Russia bloc and Western nations. In addition, the Japanese economy has been left behind by countries on the technological frontier due to 30 years of stagnation. In this respect, the Japanese economy faces one of its most critical situations since the opening of the country to the world in the form of the Meiji Restoration or the post-World War II turmoil. However, the tide is turning, marked by the transformation in the lifetime employment system, an increase in regular employment for women, the return of the manufacturing industry to Japan, a recovery in capital investment, the strengthening of economic security, and the exit from deflation. In fact, the existence of a significant gap with the countries on the technological frontier can be considered as another opportunity for Japan to catch up, as occurred during the two previous crises. To navigate this turbulent world and escape economic stagnation, collaboration among industry, government, and academia is crucial, just as it was during the previous two economic crises. In this new era where precedent no longer applies, academia—with its medium- to long-term perspective—must underpin policy changes. In this sense, the importance of RIETI is growing.
RIETI aims to actively engage in research on economic security, strengthen the policy advisory functions of the EBPM Center, conduct analyses that paves the way for a “New Direction of Economic and Industrial Policies,” and propose institutional reforms from a medium- to long-term perspective. Ultimately, we aspire to become a policy research institute that policymakers and industry leaders turn to first for advice and for access to research findings.
April 2026
