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On May 23, 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the awards ceremony for the Fifth Nippon Venture Grand Prize, held at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
The Prime Minister said in his address,
 
“Congratulations to all of the winners on their awards at this Japan Venture Grand Prize.
 
Just a moment ago, I saw the exhibits set up by each of the award winners. All of them made me feel the beginning of a new era.
 
A robot, which automatically cleans your house for you when you are away, is one of them. I suppose that, when you were a child, some of you had the experience of being scolded by your parents to keep things tidy. We may no longer need to worry about this, thanks to this technology. I feel it is like a dream.
 
Artificial intelligence, robots, and the Internet of Things (IoT) – those innovations known as the fourth industrial revolution are now truly on the verge of bringing about groundbreaking changes in every field, from logistics and agriculture, to mobility. I believe that our future lies therein. I felt that strongly as I spoke with the representatives of the participating start-ups.
 
This month marks the start of the new era of Reiwa. Looking back at the beginning of the Heiwa era, pagers were all the rage. Some of you here today may not even know what a ‘pager’ is. What we called a mobile phone at that time was actually a ‘shoulder phone,’ which was the size of a bag. I remembered that, when I served as the executive secretary of my father, Shintaro Abe, then-Prime Minister Nakasone played golf in Karuizawa with my father, Mr. Miyazawa, and Mr. Takeshita, and their secretaries, including myself, wore one and carried around phone batteries which looked like a backpack and other items in case something happened. Things have really changed greatly since then. Today people use smartphones, devices that rival the supercomputers of 30 years ago, which fit in each person’s pocket. We live in an age where the internet and social media are flourishing, and a YouTuber is now among the top 10 jobs that elementary school children want to have when they grow up.
 
The 30 years of the Heisei era changed our lives dramatically. There is no doubt in my mind that the speed of change will increase even further in the Reiwa era. In such an era, what is required is a creative mind that goes beyond conventional wisdom and the ability to take action boldly to materialize the idea. I expect that, even in your industry, many of you might have an experience where you saw a product based on what you have thought of before. What is extremely important is whether you put your idea into action boldly. You are the ones who actually put them into action, taking risks. I am confident that entrepreneurship is the key to pave the way in the new era. The Government has implemented various measures including the expansion of the stock option tax system and introduction of super expedited patent approvals to allow entrepreneurs to run their companies in an agile manner. I intend for my Cabinet to strongly support your endeavors for the future as entrepreneurs.
 
I hope that all of the winners today will continue to create ever more new products. Furthermore, I hope that you will give courage to future generations of entrepreneurs following your traits, by demonstrating your continued successes.
 
Congratulations on your awards today.”