Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the 16th meeting of the Headquarters for Japan’s Economic Revitalization at the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the meeting, discussion took place on the FY2014 “Report on Important Measures for Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness” (draft), the “Action Plan for Strengthening Industrial Competitiveness” (FY2015 version; draft), and the “Review Guidelines for the Progress of the Growth Strategy;” and on the “New Strategy for Robots” (draft).

Based on the discussion in the meeting, the Prime Minister said,

“I would like to make 2015 a year in which we make significant progress with regards to reform. Today, we have decided the Action Plan for System Reforms for the next three years, as well as the first report summarizing the state of progress of the Revitalization Strategy up until now. At last, the PDCA cycle of the Abe administration’s Growth Strategy has entered its second revolution. There is no end to the reforms of the Abe administration. We will submit over 20 bills during this Diet session, including bills to powerfully advance the reform of so-called vested interests such as agriculture, medicine, energy, and employment. In addition, we will also consider in earnest further development of the Growth Strategy, under the leadership of the Industrial Competitiveness Council. Today we have also determined the “New Strategy for Robots” as a central project in our future Growth Strategy. By means of a fusion between IT and robots, in this new era when both people’s lifestyles and industry are facing dramatic changes, I would like to make this the “starting point of the robot revolution” whereby Japan can shine in the world.

I would like all Cabinet members, along with implementing and achieving the Growth Strategy, to also formulate specific policies in response to the new issues to be considered, taking into account our “Review Guidelines” for the future.”