The government will aim to conclude free-trade agreements with Australia, South Korea and the European Union by the end of fiscal 2013, according to a draft of the administration's growth strategy.

The draft, which the government has been trying to finish by the end of this month, also states that the nation will take steps to encourage women to return to work after giving birth as a pillar of its efforts to create more jobs.

Such measures will help increase the female workforce by 1 million and their income by more than ¥3 trillion in total by the end of March 2021, the draft says.