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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a ceremony to commend leading companies where women shine at the Prime Minister's Office.

In his opening address, the Prime Minister made the following remarks,

“I would like to offer my sincere congratulations on the conferment of these awards today to commend leading companies where women shine.

The awarded companies have been swift in working for active participation by women and information disclosure, and are all truly leaders  in this area.

I have said before that I would like to see the appointment of at least one female executive among the management team at every publically listed company. Most of the companies awarded today have appointed multiple   female executives.

These companies handle each woman on an individual basis and methodically foster their development.
They are changing the way people work and reducing long working hours. They are creating working environments where it is easy for women who are raising children to continue working. Through steady initiatives, the awarded companies are producing results such as increases in the proportion of women in their management.

There are even cases in which companies have gone beyond their own organizations and brought in other companies in the same fields to secure workplace transfers and ensure that women within the entire industry can continue working. Information on these initiatives and the state of activities by women at these companies are being widely communicated to investors, students seeking employment, consumers, and others. I would like to express my deep respect for the hard work that everyone here has done for such efforts.

In August, we enacted the bill on promoting active participation by women, which makes it obligatory for companies to create plans that cover areas ranging from the hiring and appointment of women to the development of their capabilities. This legislation will be fully implemented from April of next year.

The promotion of active participation by women is central to realizing a society in which all one hundred million-plus citizens are each dynamically engaged, and will continue to be our greatest challenge.

At the Ise-Shima Summit to be held in Japan in May of next year as well, we will discuss the active participation of women as an important issue.

I expect that everyone will take the opportunity of this award today to further accelerate the movement for active participation of women in Japan.

I would like to conclude my congratulatory remarks with the request that everyone continue to produce results related to the active participation of women through further initiatives. Thank you very much.”