TOKYO: Japan's communications ministry will promote public-private cooperation to export technologies that can be used for telemedicine for novel coronavirus patients, Jiji Press learned Thursday.

The ministry has devised an action plan to boost exports of technologies for local fifth-generation, or 5G, communications networks, in which Japan has an advantage over other countries, informed sources said.

The ministry is confident that the local 5G technologies are good for medical institutions dealing with diseases with high infection risks.

With the coronavirus raging around the world, the ministry will work intensively to increase exports of the technologies together with telemedicine systems, the sources said.

Local 5G networks refer to those introduced in limited areas by companies and municipalities.

In fiscal 2020, the ministry will launch a team on digital business overseas expansion including information technology companies and the government-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Through the council, the ministry aims to strengthen the public-private cooperation to explore foreign markets and increase exports of 5G-related infrastructure including submarine optical cables in a bid to better compete with overseas rivals, such as China.

According to the action plan, key items whose exports should be promoted include remote-diagnosis technologies to identify coronavirus patients with the risk of developing serious symptoms by using computerized tomography images and systems to analyze data on the movements of citizens while paying due care about privacy.

In Africa, Japan should sell technologies to establish high-speed communications networks by sending unmanned vehicles mounted with mobile base stations to the stratosphere, a layer of Earth's atmosphere, according to the plan.

JIJI Press