Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the first Government-Labor-Management Meeting for Realizing a Positive Cycle of the Economy at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, discussion took place on the "current situation of the economic and employment environment" and "efforts and challenges towards realizing a positive cycle of the economy."

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said in his address,

"Thank you very much for attending the meeting today in spite of your busy schedules and for sharing your valuable opinions.
As a result of implementing economic policies which are different from the past in both their scope and reach, the economy is showing signs of a turnaround from negative to positive growth. It is a fact that the economy is moving in the direction of exiting deflation and regaining its dynamism. Whether or not we can build on this momentum to realize a positive cycle of the economy, which is accompanied by increases in corporate revenues and profits as well as wages and employment, will be the determining factor in achieving this goal.
Today, a variety of opinions were heard from you regarding the realization of a positive cycle, including:

The importance of developing an environment for Japanese companies to succeed in the fierce global competition
The importance of immediately translating increases in corporate revenues and profits into increases in wages and employment; and
The importance of diverse work styles, including addressing the issue of irregular employment and female employment.

Going forward, I would like for the three parties - the Government, labor, and management - to continue to hold frank discussions through these meetings and to work together to create a positive cycle of growth. To this end, we will proceed to form a common understanding regarding the challenges facing the realization of a positive cycle, and steadily carry out the initiatives which should be implemented by the Government, labor, and management, respectively, for the resolution of the challenges.
The Government will review daring measures for realizing a positive cycle. Reciprocally, I ask that both the business community and the labor community also undertake bold efforts towards realizing a positive cycle."