Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the second meeting of the Council for Science and Technology Policy in 2013 at the Prime Minister's Office.

At this meeting, intensive discussion took place on the next-generation infrastructure and energy, and after the decision on the evaluation for the R&D projects of national importance, there was a discussion on the draft of the Third Mid-Term Goals and Plan by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science on the support for advanced studies.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

"The innovation policy of the Abe Cabinet is to put utmost effort into realizing innovation for growth, and not to fall into 'technology for technology.' It is scheduled today to start discussion on the two areas of next-generation infrastructure and energy for the formulation of the growth strategy.
Infrastructure is an important basis for supporting the lives of the people and economic activities, and it is currently required to take prompt responses, such as to cope with the increasingly aging facilities.
Also with regard to energy, the situation surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe from mid- and long-term perspectives, for example, the surge in international prices of resources. Under such condition, securing safe, efficient and low-price energy is critical for the growth and stability of the economy and society in the future.
What kind of science and technology innovation will serve as a core in both areas of infrastructure and energy, for resolving these issues and to realize growth in a broad range? I would like ask the Cabinet members and expert members to discuss this question and summarize an answer.
In addition, I would like to ask for continuous effort in specifying the measures to reinforce the function of the Council for Science and Technology Policy, so that it becomes able to exert a strong driving power in terms of both authority and budget, and ensure that the proposals do not turn out to be a pie in the sky."