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On February 25, the sixth meeting of Café Democrats, the regular briefing and exchange forum organized by the DPJ for the diplomatic community was held at party headquarters. The meeting was hosted by the Director-General of the International Department, Chinami Nishimura. DPJ Vice President Masayuki Naoshima, member of the House of Councillors and former Minister of Economic, Trade and Industry, gave a briefing on the theme of “The New Growth Strategy” to around sixty diplomats, including six ambassadors. The meeting was also attended by Vice Directors-General of the International Department Naoto Sakaguchi and Mieko Nakabayashi.
At the start of the meeting, Nishimura made a speech welcoming the members of the diplomatic community. Next, Naoshima explained the outline of the “New Growth Strategy and the Industrial Structure Vision” put together in June last year. Furthermore, he pointed out that considering Japan’s economic society, and its state as an aging society with a declining birthrate, it would be important to “open up the nation” to achieve further economic growth. He said that the DPJ hoped to realise this through exchanges of trade, services and people. Naoshima cited the examples of environmental, medical, welfare and agricultural policy, expressing the opinion that the creation of new industries that utilized Japan’s superb technology would lead to an expansion of employment, and to increased growth, not just in Japan but around the world. He said that it was important to create links between the world economy and the Japanese economy.
Following the briefing, a frank discussion took place initiated by questions from the assembled diplomats regarding the growth strategy, and the meeting ended in a convivial atmosphere.
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