Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the third Thematic Meeting of the Industrial Competitiveness Council at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, discussion took place on reforms for turning agriculture, forestry, and fisheries into growth industries.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

"We must remake agriculture into a competitive and attractive industry, and make it a new growth industry that develops independently and drives the regional economy.
To do this, it is important that an environment is created that would allow a continuous stream of new business-minded and motivated farmers to proactively participate and succeed in agriculture.
We will proceed with institutional reforms that will merge the experience of local farmers and the insight of companies towards making the most effective use of farmlands and developing dynamic agricultural activities. For this purpose, we will be fleshing out the details of the reconsideration of agricultural commissions and the review of the requirements for corporations' ownership of farmlands. The system of agricultural cooperatives will also be fundamentally reviewed to enable local cooperatives to become central players, demonstrate their respective distinctiveness, and give their all for turning agriculture into a growth industry. These three sets of reforms will be pursued collectively.   
Furthermore, we will strive to increase the added value of Japanese agriculture and significantly expand its market. To this end, the following three reforms will be undertaken.
First, to accelerate sixth industrialization, we will make the fund that is designed to help turn agriculture, forestry, and fisheries into growth industries easier to use, and proactively instill corporate knowhow.
To ensure dairy farmers can harness creative ideas and ingenuity, and conduct high value-added business, transactions will be diversified through reviews of transactions with designated groups and other measures.
Lastly, we will work to strengthen our brands through nationwide efforts by reinforcing our international standards and certification system, and establishing product-specific export associations. We will also expand the exports of Japanese agricultural and fishery products.
I would like to ask Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Hayashi to coordinate with the Chief Cabinet Secretary to execute these reforms, based on the recognition that now is our last chance for transforming agricultural policy."