Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held the first meeting of the Council on National Strategy and Policy for 2012 at the Prime Minister's Office.

Discussion took place on macroeconomic policies and the procedures of the Council meetings, among other matters.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "The Diet session started yesterday, and four speeches were delivered from the Government. I also made sure in my speech to send a clear message concerning the comprehensive reform of social security and taxation systems, but what is truly important is that we pursue economic revitalization together with this comprehensive reform.
The roadmap for economic revitalization will be provided by the Strategy for Rebirth of Japan, which will be compiled by the middle of this year. We are considering two scenarios, a Prudent Scenario and a Growth Strategy Scenario, but I must say considerable efforts will be needed to bring Japan back on a steady growth track. I believe this understanding was shared again today among the members here.
What I mean by considerable efforts is, above all, how far we can go for creating innovation, and in what ways. I expect the members from the private sector, as well as each minister and ministry, to come up with some bold ideas for creating innovation, and would like to discuss these ideas as major pillars of the Council on National Strategy and Policy.
Last but not least, we also exchanged views today on the University of Tokyo's attempt to start enrollments in autumn instead of spring. I view this as a very positive move from the perspective of nurturing globally competitive human resources, an issue on which I would like to continue public-private dialogue going forward."