Prime Minister Naoto Kan held the seventh meeting of the Council on the Realization of the New Growth Strategy at the Prime Minister's Office.

Discussions took place on a draft Program for Realizing the New Growth Strategy in 2011 and on the endeavors of the Council.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "We had a lot of points for discussion today, including the 'growing longevity economy' model that Minister Kaoru Yosano proposed anew. His idea of encouraging the elderly to actively participate in economic activities is very attractive, given that the labor force is expected to shrink if the current situation persists and that we are facing various other issues.
We also discussed timeframes. Some areas currently require that action be taken promptly lest it be meaningless. To that end, a major question posed in politics is whether we will effectively respond to areas in which nothing but prompt judgment and decision-making is of significance.
There was a discussion on comprehensive special zones, too. While there are legal restraints, we should be able to realize them as long as we develop a range of perspectives and stipulate principle matters in law.
This Council produced remarkable achievements last year. Starting from today, I ask that you work hard so that we can produce even larger achievements this year and further develop a growth strategy that is competitive with those of other nations in terms of both speed and content."