Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the first meeting of the Council on Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy in Japan at the Prime Minister's Office.

The Prime Minister said in his opening address,

“Creating prosperous, bright and vital local communities is a priority for the Abe Cabinet. The wave of economic recovery must reach the length and breadth of the nation.
Consequently, I would like to discuss the standpoint I am emphasizing.
In local communities, jobs will be created by capitalizing on the unique resources and merits that each region possesses. This will not be coerced. Rather, the approach will be to realize citizens’ dreams to live and raise children in local communities.
Furthermore, we will provide support while carefully listening to opinions in local communities, and respecting regional characteristics. We will not adopt an approach of fitting regions into frameworks set out by the Government.
I would like you to proceed with discussions, resolutely eliminate vertically-segmented ministries and agencies with hand-out style responses, and compile bold policies of a dimension not seen before.
I would like to ask you all to draw on your broad experiences and viewpoints to formulate ideas, and offer your opinions frankly.”