World Trade Organization (WTO)
Courtesy Call on Prime Minister ISHIBA by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
May 13, 2025
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
(Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
On May 13, commencing at around 10:00 a.m., for approximately 30 minutes, Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru received a courtesy call from Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), who is paying an Official Working Visit to Japan. The overview of the courtesy call is as follows.
- At the outset, Prime Minister ISHIBA welcomed Director-General Okonjo-Iweala’s visit to Japan on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the WTO and stated that amid rapidly escalating tensions surrounding international trade the relevance of the multilateral trading system, with the WTO at the core, is increasing.
- Director-General Okonjo-Iweala stressed the importance of cooperation among Members and expressed her expectation for the role of Japan as a champion of the multilateral trading system to maintain and strengthen the multilateral trading system, including the promotion of the WTO reform.
- Prime Minister ISHIBA and Director-General Okonjo-Iweala confirmed that now is the time for member countries to regain the WTO's centripetal force by uniting and addressing the challenges facing the WTO.