SME Productivity Revolution Promotion Programme — Japan's IT and Productivity Subsidies

Japan's Project to Promote SMEs to Upgrade Their Productivity, known as the SME Productivity Revolution Promotion Programme, has run since 2018 under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, delivered through SME Support Japan (SMRJ) and sector intermediaries. It bundles subsidies for manufacturing productivity investment, small-enterprise sustainability, IT adoption, and business succession, with an annual budget of roughly JPY 340 billion in fiscal year 2024.
Evidence so far is mixed. METI's own review found that by September 2022 the flagship Manufacturing/Commerce/Service Productivity Subsidy had a 68.6% project commercialisation rate but a slightly negative added-value growth rate of -0.6%, suggesting productivity effects take longer to materialise. The IT Introduction Subsidy fared better, with supported SMEs recording a 3.4% increase in labour productivity during the early implementation phase.
The programme deliberately targets Japan's smallest firms — the Small-Scale Enterprise Sustainability Subsidy is open to service and retail businesses with as few as five employees — and relies on chambers of commerce, national federations and a private secretariat to reach SMEs outside major industrial clusters. METI describes the overall evaluation as still incomplete given the programme's ongoing, multi-year design.

Read the full analysis: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/sme-technology-adoption-in-the-united-kingdom_cecfb794-en/japan-s-sme-productivity-revolution-programme_4b64c40d-en.html