We Are Tomodachi Autumn / Winter 2017

17/38

17Manufacturing and services workplaces will transform dramatically due to robots, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other cutting-edge innovations. This is the productivity revolution.We will support bold private sector investments by mobilizing our entire range of policies, including the tax system, the budget, and regulatory reforms. Regulatory reformsThe latest technologies in regenerative medicine are about to change the world dramatically. Against that backdrop, many overseas companies from North America, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere are now coming to Japan, saying they want to conduct their clinical trials there. It was four years ago that we carried out the bold regulatory reforms that the journal Nature evaluated as “the world’s fastest approval process.” Through the emergence of new regenerative medicine technologies and the execution of bold regulatory reforms to address that situation, Japan is now the foremost country in regenerative medicine.If we implement reforms anticipating those changes in the times, we will also be able to completely transform the global industrial map. I want to establish a “regulatory sandbox system.” We will make a “sandbox” in which it is possible for certain participants to conduct trial and error freely on new businesses for a certain period of time, without conforming to existing regulations. This is the ultimate in regulatory reform.I would like people from all around the world imbued with a venture spirit to come to Japan, by all means.Women and the elderlyAs society ages, the composition of the market will also naturally change. That is where new opportunities lie. The ones who can accurately grasp the needs within the expanding senior market are the seniors themselves. Half of the population is female. The particular perspective of women surely holds tremendous power in responding to their needs.Thanks to our holding high the banners of “womenomics” and staying active throughout one’s life, and creating environments in which it is easy to work, over the last four years the employment rates of women and of people over the age of 65 are both up by three percentage points. As a result, although the population of Japan has decreased by 700,000 people, we have been able to increase the number of people employed by 1.85 million people.The revolution on developing human resourcesI will undertake drastic reforms to what the Japanese economy and society should be like on the assumption of an era of a 100-year life span. For Abenomics, that will be the biggest test of all.First of all we will press forward with reforms to the employment system.The long-held value that working long hours is good must be fundamentally changed. As for treatment such as wages, it is necessary to introduce a structure that evaluates workers’ abilities rather than their form of employment.Next are reforms to the social security system. Social security until now has had as its central focus benefits paid to retired seniors. We will redirect this focus to the working generation to a greater degree. We will reform it to become a system oriented to all generations. We will enhance childcare and nursing care services further to prepare an environment in which the working generation finds it easy to balance employment with these other responsibilities. We will work to provide free preschool education and provide an environment in which it is easy to raise children.There are also reforms to the education system. We will make higher education effectively free for children from low-income households. We will make it possible for someone to receive practical vocational education and take on the challenge of a new job no matter how old he or she becomes. In order to create that kind of society, we will considerably enhance recurrent education.We will create opportunities for all, both old and young and women and men alike. I named this kind of reform package the human resources development revolution.Passion and a sense of responsibilitySome of you might be harboring the question, can I really accomplish the major reforms I spoke about today?But I will absolutely achieve them. I will reform Japan without averting my eyes from our greatest challenges of a dwindling birthrate, an aging society, and population decline. I will be second to none in terms of that passion and sense of responsibility. I am reminded of the words of NBA legend Michael Jordan. He said, “I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”I too will continue to stay forward looking and take the offensive. No matter how hard the challenge, I will fight on looking to the future and never fail to deliver results. I will take on these issues with a strong sense of resolve.