After two decades of sluggish growth, despite recent signs of renewed dynamism, Japan's growth prospects, which are projected to be 0.6% in 2016 and 0.7% in 2017, are still clouded by an ageing population, a high national debt (expected to reach 234% of GDP by 2017) and other socio-economic challenges. Thus, the 5th S&T Basic Plan (2016-20), prepared by the Cabinet Office with the input of experts, identifies sustainable development, the safety and security of the country and its people, climate change and biodiversity as overarching fields for determining a medium- to long-term STI strategy. As the world’s third-largest economy after the United States and China, Japan is also the world’s third most R&D-intensive country, with 3.59% of GDP dedicated to R&D in 2014.