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On May 13, 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the 44th meeting of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
At the meeting, a discussion was held on strengthening research capacity, and a report was presented on the status of the review of the Moonshot Research and Development Program.
 
Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said,
 
“Today, we held a discussion on the policy measures aimed at strengthening research capacity in Japan.
 
To begin with, it is essential to utilize private funds more proactively. To that end, we would like to consider an arrangement which enables universities and national research and development agencies to establish external joint research functions so as to allow various forms of industry-academia collaboration. In addition, from the perspective of securing talented researchers, it is required to develop research environments that are attractive to young people. Moreover, there is a need to build a system that allows researchers to focus on their own research without being occupied by numerous administrative works and, in particular, a system that allows them to actively focus on their own research without any concerns. I would like to ask Minister Hirai and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Shibayama, with cooperation from Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Seko and the other relevant ministers, to take these points into consideration and compile a comprehensive package to strengthen research capacity and support young researchers by the end of the year, with the aim of fundamentally strengthening Japan’s research capacity. Furthermore, as Mr. Ueyama proposed today, please carry out a review by the end of this year towards the compilation of the next Science and Technology Basic Plan visions that universities, the core of our innovation ecosystem, should aim at.
 
Today, we also received a report on the status of the review of the Moonshot Research and Development Program. In a world where cutting-edge innovation is being created at a rapid pace, it is important to create a new mechanism that produces results, focusing on speed and flexibility, instead of being constrained by conventional approaches to research and development budgeting. I therefore ask Minister Hirai to compile ambitious targets as soon as possible and swiftly implement various measures to achieve these targets.”