In his first Diet policy speech Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga presented his grand plan for the nation, doubling down on domestic policy commitments in which he is actively invested while signaling that in foreign affairs he would rely partially on the blueprint developed by his predecessor, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Speaking before lawmakers, Suga recited a laundry list of projects on which he is eager to deliver now that he is at the country’s helm: stimulating the local economy through a combination of agricultural reform and tourism, promoting digitalization and making infertility treatment available under national health insurance, in a bid to curb the declining birthrate.
On the other hand, Suga has relied on strategies inherited from Abe to set out Japan’s foreign policy under the new administration. Although he has made minor changes in language, the overall tone as he described bilateral relations with prominent Asian countries, the United States and Russia did not diverge notably from that of his former boss.
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