Key industry - Kikansan-gyo

Among the industries that form the basis of a country's economy, key industries are those that hold the key to the rise and fall of a country's production. Generally, the term refers to industries that produce raw materials for industry and construction materials such as steel, energy industries such as coal, electricity, and oil, machinery industries such as automobiles, shipbuilding, and machine tools, and heavy chemical industries that are indispensable for the development of other industries such as chemical fertilizers and chemical fibers. However, originally, it referred to industries that were the "backbone" of the post-World War II economic and industrial reconstruction, and were protected and nurtured by policy intentions, with funds and resources allocated to them. For example, in Japan, in 1947 (Showa 22), a production system focused on steel and coal was adopted during the post-war reconstruction, and coal, electricity, steel, shipbuilding, and chemical fertilizer were designated as the five major key industries. After that, chemical fibers and machinery (for tools, industrial use, etc.) were added as key industries for the heavy chemical industrialization of the economy, and were given importance and protected by policy. In contrast, during the period of high economic growth after 1955, with the achievement of heavy chemical industrialization, emphasis was placed on petrochemicals, oil refining, automobiles, and electrical equipment, and from the late 1960s onwards, semiconductors and computers, as emerging strategic industries with which to advance on the world stage. In the 1970s, steel, shipbuilding, and automobiles, and in the 1980s, the semiconductor and electronics sectors grew to become world-class, and in the 1990s, the "informationization" trend led by the development of the information and communications industry spread to all industries, causing a major shift in the industrial structure from "heavy, thick, long, large" to "light, thin, short, small," and in the future, it is likely that new "knowledge-intensive" industries, with a focus on the latter in relative terms, will lead the Japanese economy.

In developing countries aiming for industrialization, there are cases where the development of core industries is being forced through with strong government protection through financial assistance, economic cooperation, and capital introduction from developed countries, focusing on import-substitution industries and the development of indigenous resources. There are also cases, such as Southeast Asian countries, where remarkable growth has been achieved through export-led economic development with the active invitation of multinational corporations.

[Shinichi Tonomura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

一国の経済の基礎をなす産業のなかで、とくに国の生産の消長の鍵(かぎ)を握る重要産業Key Industryのこと。一般に、鉄鋼など産業用原材料・建設用資材を生産する産業、石炭・電力・石油などのエネルギー産業、自動車・造船・工作機械などの機械工業、さらには化学肥料・化学繊維など他の産業を発展させるうえに欠くことのできない重化学工業をさす用語として使用されるが、本来的には、第二次世界大戦後の経済再建・産業復興の「基幹」をなす産業として、政策的意図から重点的に資金や資源が配分され、保護育成された産業をさすものであった。たとえば日本では、戦後の復興にあたり、1947年（昭和22）から鉄鋼・石炭の傾斜生産方式が採用され、石炭・電力・鉄鋼・造船・化学肥料が五大基幹産業として指定され、その後、化繊・機械（工作・産業用など）などが経済の重化学工業化のための基幹産業として追加、重視され、政策的にも保護された。これに対し、55年以後の日本経済の高度成長期には、重化学工業化が達成されたことから、石油化学・石油精製・自動車・電気機器、60年代後半からは半導体・コンピュータが、新興の、世界に進出する戦略産業として重視された。70年代には鉄鋼・造船・自動車が、80年代には半導体・エレクトロニクス分野が世界の超一流に成長し、90年代には情報通信産業の発展が主導する「情報化」が各産業に普及し、産業構造を「重厚長大型」プラス「軽薄短小型」に大きく転換させ、今後は、相対的には後者を中心に、「知識集約型」の新規諸産業が日本経済をリードしていくこととなろう。

　工業化を目ざす発展途上国では、輸入代替産業とか固有の保有資源の開発を中心に、先進国からの資金援助・経済協力・資本導入などを通じて、基幹産業の育成が政府の手厚い保護のもとに強行されているケースと、東南アジア諸国のように、多国籍企業の積極的招致による輸出主導型の経済開発によって目覚ましい成長を遂げているケースもある。

［殿村晋一］

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