Olympics benefit Japan
TOKYO (AFP) – The Athens Olympics will create 8 billion dollars’ worth of demand in the Japanese economy, mainly through stepped-up sales of digital electronics to television viewers, a private think tank said yesterday. The August 13-29 Summer Games will boost consumption by 407.2 billion yen ($3.7 billion), stimulating demand for such products as DVD recorders and flat-panel TV sets, Japan’s top advertising agency Dentsu Inc said. The gain in consumption will also bolster production through procurement of parts and other means, bringing the economic spinoff effects of the premier multisport festival to 885.7 billion yen, Dentsu said in a news release. (After years of stagnation, Japan has seen consumption move upward again, making experts hope that the protracted phase of deflation will soon be over.) A survey was conducted in mid-May by a Dentsu research unit, the Center for Consumer Studies, through interviews with 300 consumers and a number of industries, which were expected to benefit from the Athens Games. «The Athens Olympics will serve as a tail wind to promote sales of digital products, which have been brisk since last year,» the statement said. «We can expect a further boost to consumption if the nation heats up by winning gold medals,» the statement said.
