[Provisional Translation]

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

During the meeting, discussion took place on employment and human resources policy.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“With steady wage growth and expectations for a recovery in consumer spending, the unemployment rate is already trending at historically low levels. The next stage of Abenomics has now been set for positive investments in the future, to raise productivity and overcome the barrier of supply constraints. In this new stage, investments in human capital, along with IT which was discussed here last week, will be an important issue.

In recent years, the ratio of money spent by private sector companies on education and training has been falling. With market turnover growing more intense, there are limitations posed by the conventional approach of leaving human resource development up to companies. I believe this is an issue that must be addressed by society as a whole.

Future human resource development should focus not on existing jobs or posts, but rather on the individual. Based on the volition and choices of individuals, we must determine all possible career paths, and adopt an approach where individuals receive the necessary skills development to succeed.

Up until now, human resources development policy is broken down into employment policy and education policy. Today, we were able to complete a package, due primarily to the close involvement of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. I believe this shows that if we work together, we can do anything. Now, the entire government will cooperate to implement human resources reform.

In the field of education, we will create a new higher education institution system that carries out practical occupational education based on the real needs of society, which will encourage competition between schools.

I ask that relevant ministers make progress in further crystallizing these policies with a sense of urgency, and incorporate them into our growth strategy.”