The government has held the first meeting of a new panel on “robotics revolution,” a key item in its economic growth strategy adopted in June.

The panel is tasked with discussing measures to promote the use of robots and related technologies in various fields, not only in the manufacturing industry but also in hotel, distribution, medical and elderly nursing-care services.

Companies still rely heavily on human hand for simple and harsh labor, making it difficult to secure enough workers and blocking efforts to improve productivity, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the meeting.

The panel, chaired by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. consultant Tamotsu Nomakuchi, will work out a five-year plan by the year-end to achieve the numerical targets.

The appropriate use of robots will be a key to solving these problems, Abe also said.

In the growth strategy, the government said Japan will double its robot-related market to ¥1.2 trillion by 2020 in the manufacturing sector and achieve a 20-fold jump to ¥1.2 trillion in the nonmanufacturing sector.

It will also discuss deregulation needed to promote the use of robots and related technologies.Speech