Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received the report of the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) Education Task Force at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Prime Minister said in his address,

"The Japan-U.S. Alliance is the cornerstone of diplomacy and security. People-to-people exchanges are what support that Alliance. I believe that within people-to-people exchanges, the exchanges of students are extremely important.
Unfortunately, the number of Japanese exchange students going overseas is now decreasing. I think this is a major problem. I hope both sides will exert efforts to ensure growth in the number of exchange students moving forward."