9個(gè)月前，日本政府將1日元開(kāi)公司成為可能。在日本，1日元 只夠買根口香糖。

Nine months ago the Japanese government made it possible to set up a new company with just one yen - the price of a stick of chewing gum.

    日本的消費(fèi)水平在世界上名列前茅，但長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)，日本缺少創(chuàng)業(yè)精神被視為一大結(jié)構(gòu)性缺陷。這是日本經(jīng)濟(jì)業(yè)績(jī)乏善可陳一大原因。

A lack of business innovation has long been recognised as one of the structural weaknesses behind the lacklustre economic performance of one of the world's most expensive countries.

    在全球創(chuàng)業(yè)觀察（Global Entrepreneurship Monitor，簡(jiǎn)稱 GEM)對(duì)37個(gè)國(guó)家的創(chuàng)業(yè)和經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展所做的研究報(bào)告中，日本排名墊底。

Research by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a 37-country study of start-up business activity and economic growth, put Japan at the bottom of the league.

    在日本，參與創(chuàng)業(yè)或成立新公司不足3年半的企業(yè)家人數(shù)僅占總?cè)丝诘?%，而在中國(guó)、韓國(guó)和泰國(guó)，這個(gè)數(shù)字分別為12%，14%和18%。

Just 2 per cent of the population were involved in starting a new business or owning a business less than 42 months old. In China the figure was 12 per cent, in Korea 14 per cent and in Thailand 18 per cent.

    為鼓勵(lì)創(chuàng)業(yè)，日本政府承諾每年將新公司數(shù)目增加1倍；到2006年，力爭(zhēng)達(dá)到36萬(wàn)家。1日元辦公司的優(yōu)惠政策由此而來(lái)。

Hence the one-yen initiative, which is part of a drive to foster entrepreneurial activity under which the Japanese government has committed itself to doubling the number of enterprises established each year to 360,000 by 2006.

    然而，自今年2月新政策啟動(dòng)以來(lái)，政府只收到268份申請(qǐng)，實(shí)際新成立的“1日元”公司也只有178家。

However, since February only 268 applications have been received under the new rules and just 178 one-yen companies have actually been set up.

    管理合法公司組建的日本法務(wù)省稱，在經(jīng)歷了前兩年的下滑后，雖然2003年新增公司數(shù)量比上年同期增長(zhǎng)了8%，但仍大大低于日本原有水平和國(guó)際平均水平。

While new business formation has risen by 8 per cent year-on-year in 2003 after two years of decline, according to the Ministry of Justice, which monitors legal incorporations, it is still well below the levels previously seen in Japan and still stands significantly below international averages.

    此外，日本仍泥潭深陷，不能自拔。日本不僅缺少企業(yè)家，而且融資渠道不暢，加上日本文化中對(duì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)事業(yè)的反感，都阻礙了這些為數(shù)不多的企業(yè)家的發(fā)展。

Instead, the country remains trapped in the worst of all possible worlds - not only does it not have very many entrepreneurs in the first place, but those few it does possess are being stunted by a lack of financing channels and a cultural aversion to risk-taking.

    日本對(duì)企業(yè)家的態(tài)度似乎與其它國(guó)家迥然不同，是造成這一現(xiàn)狀的原因部分。

Part of the reason for this state of affairs is that attitudes towards entrepreneurs in Japan seem to differ from the rest of the world.

    例如，當(dāng)被問(wèn)道企業(yè)家是否具有社會(huì)價(jià)值時(shí)，在接受抽樣調(diào)查的美國(guó)人中，表示認(rèn)同的占91%，而贊成這種說(shuō)法的日本人僅占受訪者的8%。

When, for example, a sample of US citizens was asked if entrepreneurs were socially valuable, 91 per cent said yes. Just 8 per cent of Japanese respondents agreed with them.

    來(lái)自日本總務(wù)省的數(shù)據(jù)也反映出這一價(jià)值取向。在過(guò)去的20年里，日本每年意欲成為企業(yè)家的人數(shù)超過(guò)100萬(wàn)，但在同一時(shí)期內(nèi)，實(shí)際新成立公司的平均數(shù)已從66%下降至31%。

Figures from the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications reflect this trend. Over the last 20 years the number of would-be entrepeneurs in Japan has been over 1m annually, but the number of actual start-ups has declined from an average of 66 per cent to 31 per cent over the same period.

    這些數(shù)字揭示出一個(gè)令人沮喪的事實(shí)。盡管日本政府推出了一系列扶持新公司的舉措，但在創(chuàng)造良好的創(chuàng)業(yè)環(huán)境方面，他們正被亞洲地區(qū)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手迎頭趕上。

The numbers tell a depressing story. Despite the government's moves to foster young companies, the country's efforts to create an environment that encourages new businesses are being outpaced by its Asian regional rivals.

    顯而易見(jiàn)，日本缺少資本家的創(chuàng)業(yè)精神，而這與日本沒(méi)有一個(gè)成熟的融資市場(chǎng)也有很大關(guān)系。

Japan's apparent lack of capitalist endeavour also has much to do with the lack of a mature financing market.

    日本經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)業(yè)省提供的一組數(shù)據(jù)最為生動(dòng)地說(shuō)明了這個(gè)問(wèn)題。美國(guó)大約有40萬(wàn)名“天使”投資人準(zhǔn)備為新公司提供資金，而日本只有1500人。美國(guó)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)企業(yè)中心(US Venture Enterprise Centre) 的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2001年，日本股 票形式的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本投資約為1.02萬(wàn)億日元（合93.4億美元），比美國(guó)少30倍。

The most dramatic illustration of this is the fact that there are around 400,000 "angel" investors prepared to finance start-up companies in the US compared to just 1,500 in Japan, according to the Ministry of the Economy, Trade and Investment. Venture capital investment in Japan in 2001 on a stock basis was around Y1,020bn (.34bn) - 30 times less than in the US - according to the US Venture Enterprise Centre.

    經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)業(yè)省對(duì)日本創(chuàng)業(yè)情況所做的調(diào)查顯示，62%的企業(yè)表示，籌集資金是他們?cè)趪L試創(chuàng)業(yè)時(shí)遇到的最大難題，80%的企業(yè)則被迫動(dòng)用自己的資金。

An economy ministry survey of creative entrepreneurial activity revealed that 62 per cent of enterprises said raising funds was the main challenge when trying to start up a business, and 80 per cent were forced to use their own capital.

    在日本，創(chuàng)辦公司的成本也比較高。一家支持中小企業(yè)的政府機(jī)構(gòu)—國(guó)民生活公庫(kù)(National Life Finance Corporation) 對(duì)新公司所做的調(diào)查顯示，在美國(guó)，創(chuàng)業(yè)資 金等于或低于2萬(wàn)美元的新公司占58%，而日本只有25%的新公司以低于4.5日元的資金起家。同時(shí)，據(jù)日本銀行稱，自1994年以來(lái)，在各大銀行，區(qū)域性銀行，信用社和政府金融機(jī)構(gòu)中，金融機(jī)構(gòu)對(duì)中小企業(yè)發(fā)放的貸款有所下降。這主要是因?yàn)橹行∑髽I(yè)存在不良貸款問(wèn)題。

Start-up costs are also high. A survey of new companies by the National Life Finance Corporation - a government agency which supports small and medium-sized businesses - revealed that 58 per cent of start-ups in the US used ,000 or less, while in Japan only 25 per cent started with less than Y45,000. At the same time, according to the Bank of Japan, lending by financial institutions to small and medium enterprises has been falling since 1994 at large banks, regional banks, credit associations and government financial institutions, mainly as a result of their non-performing loan problems.

    對(duì)此，政府已采取行動(dòng)，嘗試填補(bǔ)金融機(jī)構(gòu)產(chǎn)生的缺口，但貸款額度較小。

In response, the government has taken action to try and fill the gap created by the financial institutions, but the numbers are small.

    成立于2000年的日本小企業(yè)金融公司(The Japan Finance Corporation for Small Business)，目前已提供了總額高達(dá) 3億美元的802項(xiàng)貸款。日本商工中金銀行(Shoko Chukin Bank) 也為310家新公司提供了總計(jì)2800萬(wàn)美元的無(wú)抵 押貸款。

The Japan Finance Corporation for Small Business - which was established in 2000 - has provided 802 loans which amount to m, and the Shoko Chukin bank has offered zero collateral loans to 310 start-ups totalling m.

    日本政府已經(jīng)意識(shí)到，缺乏創(chuàng)業(yè)熱情是一個(gè)十分嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題。政府也已采取行動(dòng)，嘗試解決這個(gè)問(wèn)題。

The Japanese government has recognised that the country's lack of entrepreneurial activity is a significant problem and has taken action to try and solve it.

    但正如偉大的英國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家約翰•梅納德•凱恩斯(John Maynard Keynes)所說(shuō)的那樣：“發(fā)展新觀念并不太困難 ，難的是如何擺脫舊觀念。”

But as the great British economist John Maynard Keynes put it: "The difficulty lies not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones." xref Japanese exports up,

譯者/夏璇