Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

JAPANESE

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have one item to report to you concerning the meeting of the Council to Promote the Development of Globally Competitive Human Resources. This afternoon the Council meeting was held and an interim summary was finalized. The interim summary stresses the importance of increasing human resources with high-level language abilities enabling them to take part in talks and negotiations. The interim summary sets a target of achieving approximately 10% of the younger generation, or approximately 110,000 people in each year group, who will have had more than one year's experience of study or living abroad by the time they reach their mid-twenties. The report states that to reach this target a number of measures will need to be implemented not only by the Government, but by high schools, universities, companies and parents or guardians of young people, including the promotion of study abroad at high school age, the improvement of university entrance examinations and corporate recruitment activities. The Government will work to realize the specific response measures that are detailed in the summary issued by the Council. In addition, in order to ensure that all people involved can act together, the Government will work to establish a forum for ongoing dialogue among representatives of industry and academia and will also make active efforts to provide information to parents or guardians and the general public. For further details please direct your questions to the office of the Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary.

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Today the administrative offices of the village of Iitate in Fukushima Prefecture were relocated to Fukushima City, and the mayor has stated that he would like to restore the administrative functions to Iitate within the space of two years. How does the Government view this statement and how does it intend to offer support in this regard?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The residents of the village of Iitate and indeed all residents in the planned evacuation areas are currently experiencing a great deal of trouble and hardship due to the requests being made of them. The residents who lived in areas closer to the nuclear power station and had to evacuate at an earlier stage are also experiencing hardship, which was followed by the one and half a month of preparation for the residents in the planned evacuation areas further away. I would like to express my heartfelt respect to the mayor of Iitate village in particular for his untiring and diligent efforts on the part of the residents of Iitate during this difficult time. The mayor has stated his goal for a return to Iitate and the Government will take these comments and the wishes of the mayor with the greatest seriousness. However, given the actual objective conditions in the area, including the contamination of the soil and other matters, until a specific target for when such contamination will be able to be tackled and decontamination achieved, it is difficult for the Government to state a specific timeframe for when residents can return to the village. In respect of the comments made by the mayor of Iitate today, the Government will make every effort to ensure that the village residents can return to their homes as soon as possible.

REPORTER: I believe that the residents in the disaster-affected areas will be concerned by the recent activities in the Diet. What do you think will be the impact of the rupture between the ruling and opposition parties concerning the extension of the Diet session on the disaster-affected areas and people as well as upon the measures being implemented to assist them?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: It is very regrettable that we were unable to gain the understanding of the two major opposition parties concerning the extension of the Diet session. If there were any deficiencies within the ruling parties in seeking for such understanding, then I am sorry for that. However, given that the Diet session has been extended, I believe that the opposition parties will each have their own opinions and positions, and we are receiving such opinions in a cross-party manner in a way that will have a positive impact for the people affected by the disaster. I believe all parties are in consensus on the importance of making such a positive contribution, and the Government will also redouble its efforts to ensure that there are no delays to post-disaster response measures.

(Abridged)