Japan needs foreign workers for quake recovery: panel chief

[AsahinaKimi]

TOKYO —

Japan needs to attract a large number of foreigners to help revive the farming and fishery industries in areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the head of a key reconstruction panel said Friday.

‘‘It is important to draw human resources, including permanent foreign residents’’ to the hard-hit northeastern region of Tohoku, Makoto Iokibe, who chairs the Reconstruction Design Council, said at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club.

Iokibe noted that many cities and towns in the region, known for strong farming and fishery industries, had suffered from depopulation even before they were destroyed by the natural calamities, so population growth will be vital for their reconstruction.

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