DAVOS, Switzerland â€" Few of the panels organized by the World Economic Forum this year had drawn as much anticipation as the one featuring Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
And on Wednesday, the head of state seized the opportunity to extol his own work.
Before a packed crowd here, Mr. Abe spoke of the successes that his economic changes, called Abenomics, have brought to the long-moribund Japanese economy. In his eyes, the country has gone from “the land of the setting sun†to an economic supernova in the making.
Critics have long derided Japan as tired and past its prime, where growth is impossible.
“Can you hear any such voices now?†Mr. Abe declared. “People are now more vibrant and upbeat.â€
Through a big fiscal stimulus, easing by the Bank of Japan and efforts to reduce the strictures of the Japanese economy â€" the “three arrows†â€" the prime minister has laid down what he believes will be the path for a resurgent country. His speech ran through some of his ambitious goals, from deregulating Japan’s electricity market to removing farm controls to reducing the corporate tax rate.
Mr. Abe clearly relished his popular perception as a taboo breaker, willing to force culture changes that would put more women in corporate leadership positions and calling for changes in the way health care companies operate. He called himself a drill bit ready to bore through entrenched systems.
“No vested interests will remain immune from my drill,†he declared.
And in language that surely pleased financiers like the hedge fund manager Daniel S. Loeb, who publicly embraced Abenomics as the cornerstone of a big bet on Japan, Mr. Abe noted that he was pushing for Japanese companies to name more external directors and let institutional investors have a greater say in corporate governance.
But the prime minister also alluded to growing tensions in the region, including the simmering dispute between Japan and China over the South China and East China seas. He praised China as an important economic ally and an essential cog in the Asian growth engine, and he spoke at length about the need to maintain peace.
Seeking to quell concerns that Japan might resort to military action, Mr. Abe declared that should Asia’s peace and stability be shaken, the world would suffer. The dividends of Asian growth he said, should not be wasted on military destruction.
“Japan has sworn an oath to never again wage a war,†he said. “We have never stopped, and will continue to be wishing for the world to be at peace.â€
The prime minister was poised to receive a warm welcome from the start. In his introduction to the speech, Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum, declared that “Japan is back,†and noted that he moved the dates of the high-powered gathering to avoid conflicting with the start of the Japanese legislative session.
“We need bold concepts, and Abenomics is such a bold concept,†Mr. Schwab said.
