Minister ponders old-for-young swap

Minister ponders old-for-young swap

MANILA: Japan's finance minister proposed on Wednesday packing
off his country's growing army of pensioners to Philippine
nursing homes.

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, a sprightly 81, said his
plan was a two-in-one cure for the strains on Japan's medical
system from its greying population and for high Philippine
unemployment.

"Japan's aging and there are so few people to care for them,"
Shiokawa told reporters. "There are so many young people in the
Philippines."

The minister, who is in Manila for a meeting of Asian finance
ministers, said he had put his idea to Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

An aide said Shiokawa, who proposed that Japan would fund the
nursing homes, remarked to Arroyo that young Filipinos appeared
"hard-working, and the women homely".

Arroyo replied that it was a good idea, but added that Tokyo
should open its doors to more Filipino workers.

Shiokawa agreed that Japanese immigration policies were rigid
but said it was not in his powers to change them.

Japan's high life expectancy and tumbling birth rate have
raised concerns about strains on its medical and pension systems.
Some estimates show that Japan will have roughly one person over
65 for every two of working age by 2025, a higher dependency
ratio than any other major industrialised nation. REUTERS