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

Discussion took place on the follow-up of the New Growth Strategy and other matters.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "Based on the active discussion and the proposals from the private-sector members today, I would like to give instructions on four items in general.
First, regarding the follow-up of the New Growth Strategy, prompt action must be taken in response to areas where implementation is behind the roadmap. As for measures that have been implemented but which are not achieving sufficient results, specific actions for resolving the bottleneck and the way to carry forward such actions should be clarified in the Strategy for Rebirth of Japan. In the Strategy for Rebirth of Japan, as a general rule, individual measures and related achievement goals should be specified numerically using indices. For subsequent fiscal years, constant evaluation should be made so as to revise the measures, in order to realize each achievement goal.
Second, regarding the regional revitalizing measures, discussions related to regional proposals on the comprehensive special zone system should be finalized in the direction to realize the measures by around mid-May. At the same time, programs on promoting urban reconstruction should be reinforced for enhancing the international competitiveness of cities.
Third, regarding healthcare innovation, reinforcement of the clinical testing system, revision of regulations related to medical equipments and regenerative medicine, and unified support for R&D are all prioritized issues. Measures to resolve these issues and a roadmap thereof should be included in the Five-Year Healthcare Innovation Strategy.
Fourth, regarding the mid-term report on the Council for the Promotion of Growth and Finance, the creation of a mechanism to utilize the household financial assets, amounting to a total of 1.4 quadrillion yen, in realizing the growth of the country, must promptly be substantialized."