Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting with chairpersons of prefectural assemblies at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

"The Abe administration will revitalize the Japanese economy by promoting the integrated implementation of the 'three arrows' of bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy, and growth strategy that encourages private sector investment. Through these last seven months, we have advanced policies based on this guideline. And during the recent campaign for the House of Councillors election, we pledged that the policies we are advancing are correct, and that it was our mission to steadily ensure that everyone throughout the country experiences this economic recovery firsthand. I am pleased to say that through the election, we were able to gain the confidence of many people.
Going forward, I will work hard to steadily ensure that everyone throughout the country experiences this economic recovery firsthand as we promised in the election. Because ultimately, vitality will not be returned to Japan unless regional communities are thriving. Indeed, I look forward to working closely with all of you to restore vitality in all of Japan, and to create a country that will embark on a promising path and realize steady growth.
Together with all of you, we will take steps to achieve regional vitalization by steadily promoting, for example, the Plan for the Creation of Regional Vitality, which was set out in the recently decided Japan Revitalization Strategy and Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform.
In addition, I intend to steadily promote decentralization reform, including the easing of regulations and the transfer of authority. As the authority and responsibilities of local public bodies expand, the role of prefectural assemblies will become even more important. I hope that chairpersons will exercise strong leadership as representatives of the regions, and I would like to once again ask for your understanding and cooperation on the policies that the national government is advancing."