TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally announced Tuesday an outline of his long-awaited growth strategy, a slew of reforms meant to revitalize the economy and restore its global competitiveness.

The plan, approved by the Cabinet earlier in the day, includes dozens of proposed changes to labor regulations, government pension fund investments, corporate governance and tax policies that Abe said are needed to spur corporate investment and innovation.

"We have revved up our growth strategy," Abe said during a news conference. "We must do our utmost to ensure this recovery plan reaches all parts of the country."

Abe earlier announced several preliminary versions of the growth strategy -- dubbed his "third arrow" -- he promised along with his first two arrows of monetary and fiscal policies -- that have helped drive Japan's recovery since he took office in late 2012.

Economists have questioned whether the more than 200 measures proposed will actually take effect, or have the desired impact, given resistance to change in Japan's business world and bureaucracy.

Investors have pushed share prices up in recent weeks after they languished earlier in the year, in anticipation of the beefed up growth plan. On Tuesday, the benchmark Nikkei stock index edged up 0.1 percent.

Among the most important of the reform measures is a cut to the corporate tax. To entice companies to spend a larger share of cash hoards that total some $2.2 trillion, he is promising to cut corporate taxes to below 30 percent from the current rate of over 35 percent, while pushing for stronger governance rules.

Since the small and medium-sized companies that employ seven in 10 of all Japanese tend not to pay corporate tax, it is unclear if that will encourage investment or improve profitability for companies struggling to compete. The goal is to restore total capital investment to the $686 billion level it hit in 2007, by 2015.

To counter labor shortages attributed to the aging population and low birthrate, it also includes measures to promote greater gender equality and greater use of foreign labor and robots.

Abe is promising more childcare to enable more women to work while raising families. He wants to expand programs for migrant worker "trainees" to fill labor shortages in areas such as nursing, elder care and construction.

There is strong resistance to letting more foreigners settle in Japan. Labor is strongly opposed to a proposal to end overtime pay for top white collar workers -- a measure critics say might lead companies to force even longer hours on their already overworked employees.

Japan's gross public debt amounts to more than 240 percent of the GDP, compared with 72 percent for the U.S.

After pumping trillions of dollars into the economy through public works spending and ultra-loose monetary policy, the Ministry of Finance needs to bring things back into balance.

The sales tax was raised to 8 percent from 5 percent in April and is scheduled to rise to 10 percent next year. Japan needs higher tax revenues and is cutting pensions, welfare and health insurance, to counter soaring costs. A plan to revamp the investment strategies of the $1.2 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund may raise returns, helping pay for railways, gas pipelines and electricity grids, and attract more investment in stocks and other financial markets.

Business on 06/25/2014