The ruling party's working group to develop measures to expand exports of defense equipment did not resume talks in January of this year. No progress has been made on the transfer to third countries of the next generation of fighters to be jointly developed with the U.K. and Italy, despite Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's instruction to resume talks as soon as possible. If the postponement continues, there is growing concern that Japanese companies will lose business opportunities. The government has decided to consider measures to expand exports of defense equipment in the "National Security S…