The first meeting of a deregulation advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will convene today to advance discussions on regulatory reform with the aim of formulating basic policies by August, officials said Thursday.

The Council for Comprehensive Regulatory Reform, set up April 1 under the Cabinet Office, will also monitor the progress of the new three-year deregulation program the government adopted March 30.

In the afternoon meeting at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, Koizumi will ask the panel to recommend deregulatory measures needed for economic and social structural reform, the officials said.

The government has appointed 15 panel members, including Yoshihiko Miyauchi, chairman of major leasing company Orix Corp., as well as four women. Miyauchi is likely to be elected chairman at the first meeting.

The female members are Eiko Kono, president of labor information conglomerate Recruit Co.; Reiko Okutani, president of temporary staff agency The R Co.; Kaori Sasaki, president of Web portal eWoman Inc.; and Rie Murayama, vice president at U.S. brokerage Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Tokyo branch.

In the first meeting, the panelists are expected to compare notes on how to run their discussions, including the setting up of special committees to consider measures in detail.

The panel will also consider deregulation aimed at revitalizing cities, in line with the emergency economic package compiled last month by the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Set up on the basis of the Regulatory Reform Committee, which was placed under the government's administrative reform headquarters, the new panel is charged with directly advising Koizumi.