On 27 February, GR Japan had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Takao Ochi, State Minister at the Cabinet Office and a Member of the House of Representatives from the Liberal Democratic Party. Mr. Ochi is responsible for the coordination of government policy in a range of areas that are key to Japan’s revitalization and to the success of the government’s economic strategy, including finance, measures to tackle the ageing society and the declining birthrate, and women’s empowerment.
 
Japan’s policy positions are being tested by developments at home and abroad from questions about how to maintain the momentum of Abenomics to challenges to trading relationships with the US, the EU and Japan’s Asia-Pacific neighbors.  With his substantial experience in the financial sector, the Diet and the Cabinet, Mr. Ochi, is ideally placed to discuss the Japanese government’s response, with a focus on Japan’s macro-economic prospects in his talk, “Outlook for Japan 2030”.