Friday, December 19, 2008

The Meeting of the Regional Revitalization Headquarters

Prime Minister Taro Aso held a meeting of the Regional Revitalization Headquarters, convened for the first time under the Aso Cabinet, at the Prime Minister's Office.

At the meeting, proposed revisions to the Regional Revitalization Strategy were approved. The Strategy was formulated in fiscal 2007 and revised in late January of 2008, as a comprehensive strategy for the top priority task of the government -- the regional revitalization. The basic policy of the revised Strategy is to further "strengthen and solidify" efforts for the regional revitalization, against the backdrop of the situation becoming increasingly severe due to the global financial crisis, as witnessed in the flagging stock prices and worsening cash-flow of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 　

In his address, Prime Minister Aso said, "The vigorous regions are the very foundation of a vigorous Japan. The regions' strong industry, including primary industry, and traditional culture are playing extremely large roles. In order to fulfill the regions' latent powers, human resources must be strengthened. Otherwise, ideas will end up being mere ideas. It is important for the government to support local finances so that people can advance measures to revitalize the regions with vigor."