Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori asked an advisory panel Thursday to draw up a comprehensive science and technology strategy for the nation by the end of March.

He made the request at the first meeting of the Council for Science and Technology Policy.

Mori chairs the 14-member council, which is made up of six Cabinet ministers, five academics, two business executives and the president of the Science Council of Japan.

"The future of our nation hinges on whether we can successfully work out a science and technology policy," Mori said. "I hope active discussions are held at this council, which serves as the control tower for prioritizing issues and promoting reforms."

Mori then asked the panel to draft a comprehensive strategy by the end of March that would serve as the base to formulate a five-year policy on science and technology, beginning April 1.

In devising its strategy, the new panel will draw ideas from a draft plan worked out late last year by its predecessor, the Council for Science and Technology. The previous council called on the government to focus on nanotechnology, as well as technologies related to life science, information and the environment.

The new council, scheduled to meet at least once a month, is charged with drawing up basic policies to promote science and technology, appropriate money and personnel, and evaluate research and development efforts.

Panel members include Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Hideki Shirakawa, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

The council was created within the Cabinet Office, which was set up under the realignment of Japan's bureaucracy on Jan. 6. It replaced the Prime Minister's Office, which housed the Council for Science and Technology.