Japan is notorious for having few women in business: a recent studyfound that women hold just 3% of executive positions there.

But on Tuesday, Japan-based Honda Motor Co. announced it will appoint its first female operating officer—a landmark appointment in a country where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made the empowerment of female workers a main plank in his economic growth strategy.

The newly appointed operating officer, Asako Suzuki, will take over the senior executive position in April. According to the Wall Street Journal, she’ll be Honda’s first female senior executive to be internally promoted.