The second session of the economic conference held at the London Business School turned to the changes that Japan needs to implement to lift the world's second-largest economy out of recession.
Keikichi Honda, chairman of Sun Microsystems K.K., boiled down the basic task facing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration as transforming the nation's traditional vertical economic model into a horizontal version -- but he accepted that the task is far from an easy one.
"Since its inception 10 months ago, Koizumi's government has stubbornly adhered to the belief that there will be no growth unless there is reform, and that has been supported by the citizens of Japan," Honda said.