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

During the meeting, discussion took place on "prefectural intermediary institutions that manage farmland (provisional title)" and "the National Strategic Special Zone."

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

"It is a priority of the Abe administration's growth strategy to increase the productivity of agriculture and to develop it into a growth industry. In order to realize a truly competitive agricultural industry, I would like the prefectural intermediary institutions that manage farmland to be a scheme which is open to all related parties throughout Japan who have the necessary motivation.
The opinions which have been raised from this standpoint by private sector members of the Council today will be reflected accurately in the policy. Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Hayashi will review the policy with the opinions reflected. Under the coordination of Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga, a final draft will be obtained from the Headquarters on Creating Dynamism through Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Industries and Local Communities. Then, a relevant draft bill will be submitted to the extraordinary session of the Diet.  
The National Strategic Special Zone will mark a breakthrough for regulatory reform. Groundbreaking regulatory reform that will come under the global spotlight must be implemented urgently in order to undertake a national project which will be a spark that triggers economic growth.
First, I would like to ask relevant ministers, including Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Shimomura and Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Tamura, to review the measures for realizing the regulatory reform proposal which was presented today. With the cooperation of Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization Amari and Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga, Minister in charge of Regional Revitalization Shindo will lead the coordination work with relevant ministers for incorporating concrete regulatory reform outcomes into the Special Zone bill that will be submitted to the extraordinary session of the Diet."