Abe to make keynote speech at Davos, likely to ask for investment drive

Foreign Ministry officials confirmed Tuesday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will deliver a keynote address at this year's meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. Abe's keynote speech will mark the first time a Japanese leader has been asked to give a keynote speech at such a prestigious annual event, and Abe will likely call for investment in Japan to help bolster the ongoing economic recovery in the country, ministry officials here suggested. Marissa Mayer, chief executive officer of Yahoo! Inc., Jiang Jianqing, chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Novartis AG chief executive Joseph Jimenez have been named as co-chairs of the three-day event, in a sign the event will be focused on finding global, rather than regional solutions. Professor Klaus Schwab, the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, will be exchanging views with Abe. Abe will also be likely to meet other political and business decision makers, such as British Prime Minister David Cameron and South Korean President Park Geun-hye -- the latter could prove difficult due to an ongoing diplomatic stand-off between Seoul and Tokyo over territorial disputes and misperceptions of history. Abe's speech is likely to focus on his aggressive growthplans and the achievements he has had up until now in balancing fiscal reconstruction and driving Japan out of two decades of economic deflation. The central bank, with support from the finance ministry has set about reversing Japan's chronic deflation by setting an inflation target of 2 percent in two years, with monetary easing, tax breaks and ultra-low central bank loans combining to create accommodative circumstances to increase corporate capital and consumer spending, create new jobs and ensure prices move in the correct direction ahead of and after the April sales tax hike from 5 to 8 percent. Abe's officials also said he intends to point out his plans to pursue peace through international cooperation, and will urge the understanding of world leaders for his diplomatic and security policies, which have rattled some of Japan's neighbors. Abe administered a rapid increase in military spending against what Japan has described as a "perceived" threat and the steamrolling through parliament of a new National Security Council and its legal framework overseen by the controversial State Secrecy bill. He and his ruling bloc are eyeing changing Japan's self-imposed war-renouncing pacifist Constitution. The 44th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum will take place in Davos-Klosters from Jan. 22-25. Around 2,500 attendees from 100 countries are expected to attend the forum, the ministry said.