Since the financial crisis at the end of 2008, it has become increasingly difficult to view the outlook for the global economy with any certainty. Working in this kind of environment, I think it is important to move forward with some kind of vision for the future.

My personal vision for the future is a more connected and prosperous world. By ‘more connected’ I mean building stronger and deeper links on a global scale between countries, corporations and people, as part of globalization.

The process of globalization is a historic trend that extends as far back as the establishment of the Silk Road and the shipping trade across the great oceans. Nowadays, closer economic relations are being formed at an accelerated pace, driven by the dawn of the information age—particularly the internet—and other factors, such as emerging economies.

In recent years, this globalization has been increasingly characterized by prosperity. However, while corporations from developed economies have pursued a new stage of growth in emerging countries, the emerging nations themselves have accelerated growth through exports and through transferring funds, technology and experience from developed nations, resulting in relationships that are far more balanced and interdependent. Accordingly, more and more people are experiencing prosperity in both mature and emerging economies—a prosperity that has been made possible by forming connections between people and between nations. The economic framework for these connections is now becoming even more robust, as evidenced by the TPP and other such agreements.

Global connections are also meaningful when we consider the reconstruction of the industrial base in the Tohoku region after the Great East Japan Earthquake. In the aftermath of the disaster, the region received incredible support not only from within Japan but also from around the world. For many people, this reaching out across oceans and international borders highlighted the bonds that connect the rest of the world to Japan.

Now, I believe it is Japan's turn to connect with the world, and to form new bonds for the future.