Raising the growth potential is an issue that, I believe, is of relevance not only for Japan but also for other industrialized nations, since Japan’s experience of decelerating trend growth is a potential precursor of things to come elsewhere. In fact, Japan’s experience provides a good case study of the issues that need to be tackled.
Moreover, better education and training are important for the development of human capital. The forthcoming meeting of the European Council on 23-24 March 2006 will review progress made with the Lisbon strategy, which was relaunched last year. We strongly support the initiatives taken by the European Commission and the European Council to revive this reform process.