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On December 15, 2017, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the 32nd meeting of the Council on National Strategic Special Zones at the Prime Minister's Office.

During the meeting, the Council discussed issues including the certification of special zone plans, improving transparency and strengthening the functions of National Strategic Special Zones, and the regulatory sandbox system, as well as other relevant issues

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,

“Today, Mr. Mitsuhiro Kadowaki, Mayor of Semboku City, who is a leading figure in the field of near-future technology demonstration tests, including the very first tests of fully-autonomous driving on public roads in Japan, briefed us on the initiatives that his city has implemented. He also stressed the importance of the regulatory sandbox system for such fields.

The Council members from the private sector also offered a proposal on the regulatory sandbox system in the National Strategic Special Zones that would strengthen ex-post checks while thoroughly implementing yet minimizing ex-ante regulations for projects certified under the National Strategic Special Zones, including autonomous driving and drones.

As we develop the regulatory sandbox system, it is important that we leverage the ability to develop special regional sandboxes, and enable the implementation of various demonstration tests in a flexible and agile manner in line with the actual situation of each region. I want to create mechanisms that are speedy and that allow each region to fully exercise its own autonomy.

I intend to turn Japan into a country that leads the world in the creation of cutting-edge businesses. 

In addition, with regard to policies for improving transparency and strengthening the management of the National Strategic Special Zones system, which was proposed by private-sector members at our last meeting, today we approved our future direction based on the discussions made by the private-sector members. Utilizing the insight shared by the private-sector members, I hope to make active use of these Council meetings as a venue for substantive negotiations, under the leadership of Minister Kajiyama. In addition, I would like this Council to compile a record of agreements reached between ministries and agencies, and to thoroughly document the rules of managing meetings of the working groups.

The National Strategic Special Zones system is the foundation of our Growth Strategy and an indispensable engine for reforming bedrock regulations. We will continue to work with a sense of speed and make even greater efforts to implement regulatory reforms using these Special Zones.”