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On July 3, 2020, the Prime Minister held the 40th Council on Investments for the Future at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, the participants held discussions on the draft action plan of the Growth Strategy.

Following the discussions, the Prime Minister said,

“Thank you very much. Today, we held deliberations on the FY2020 draft action plan of the Growth Strategy.

The first point was the establishment of new working styles. There have been greater expectations for more diverse ways of working, such as second jobs, dual employment and freelancing, including as new working styles for the ‘with-corona’ and ‘post-corona’ age. We will create an environment in which people can work with ease of mind by making rules from the perspective of workers.

The second point was the reassessment of the payment settlement infrastructure and development of an environment for cashless transactions. Amidst the further shift to cashless payment in society, the burden from merchants’ transaction processing fees is becoming an obstacle to widespread use. We will swiftly address this issue.

The third point was our response to the digitization of the marketplace. Through the enforcement of the Act on Improving Transparency of Transactions of Digital Platform Operators, which was recently passed in the Diet, we will work to improve the transparency of business relationships, as well as proceed with the establishment of new rules for the digital advertising market. In addition, we will work on the promotion of 5G, post-5G and so-called 6G, and address it as a national strategy.

The fourth point was the advancement of open innovation. We will promote the supply of money to start-ups, such as by encouraging proper contracting practices between major corporations and start-ups.

In order to plan a new vision for society or the nation in the age of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the future beyond that, from the latter half of this month, the Council on Investments for the Future will expand its membership and start new discussions, while listening to the views of a wide variety of stakeholders. I would like to seek a vision of our society from a long-term view, which is agile in the face of change, resilient and sustainable, while establishing new working styles, promoting regional revitalization, and advancing digitization.

I ask for the continued cooperation of all the members of this Council.”