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[Provisional Translation]

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the Government-hosted National Governors’ Conference at the Prime Minister’s Office.

In his opening address, the Prime Minister said,

“Thank you very much for coming from all over the country today despite your busy schedules. I want to again express my gratitude for this opportunity to directly hear opinions from each of you, Governors who are all working hard to further develop and advance your municipalities on a daily basis.

First, major natural disasters, including the Kumamoto Earthquake, and a series of record-breaking rainfalls caused by typhoons in places such as Hokkaido and Iwate Prefecture, struck every corner of Japan this year. I would like to once again express my heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives, and my deepest sympathies to all those affected by these disasters. The Government will provide support to the affected people to be able to rebuild their lives as quickly as possible and will undertake maximum efforts for the restoration and reconstruction of the affected areas.

The economic policies that the Abe Cabinet is advancing, that is, Abenomics, have been able to create a positive economic cycle. In particular, the employment situation is improving greatly, shown by such achievements as the ratio of job offers to job seekers being more than 1.0 for all prefectures for the past six months in a row.

In addition, we have achieved a new record this year in the number of foreign tourists to Japan. We have already had more than 20 million visitors. New prosperity is arising in each region.

The important thing is that we continue to accelerate this positive economic cycle.

We have included economic measures to realize investments for the future in the second supplementary budget enacted last month, such as measures to advance regional vitalization, accelerate the realization of a society in which all citizens are dynamically engaged, create infrastructure suited to the 21st century, and promote reconstruction from the Kumamoto Earthquake and Great East Japan Earthquake.

‘Investment for the future’ is the key term for our economic policies. In order to fully utilize local strengths and resources, we will advance measures for assisting with childcare and the growing needs of nursing care, looking toward a future in which all citizens are dynamically engaged. Also, the entire Abe Cabinet is working together on work style reform, another pillar of our structural reforms.

Two years have now passed since we began measures for vitalizing local economies. Already, at this early stage, some wonderful examples have appeared in regions that have taken up this opportunity. In order to encourage ambitious regional initiatives, as well as accelerate the flow of people from the major cities to the regions, we will also promote support from information, personnel, and financial standpoints.

We will be able to produce results from efforts to vitalize local economies through the promotion of those efforts by the national Government and local governments working hand-in-hand. I expect that the Governors of each prefecture will stand at the forefront of this and fully exercise their leadership.

Based on the thinking that ‘Japan will not have vitality unless its regions have vitality,’ and ‘there is no future for Japan unless we pave the way for the future of the regions,’ the Abe Cabinet will take the stance of closely listening to the opinions of the regions, and in doing so we will support the efforts of the regions, so that everyone who lives in the regions, and their children, can have dreams and hopes centered on their individual regions. That is the kind of Japan that I will continue to work to create.

I ask for your further understanding and cooperation as the Government continues its efforts to work as one to execute measures while carefully furthering discussion with everyone, including through this meeting today.”