Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
APEC Ministerial Meeting 2023 Session II and Working Lunch
November 15, 2023
On November 15, Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, together with Mr. NISHIMURA Yasutoshi, Minister for Economy, attended in Session II (Agenda: “Building a resilient and interconnected region that advances broad-based economic prosperity”) of the APEC Ministerial Meeting in San Francisco, United States, chaired by the Honorable Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America and the Honorable Ambassador Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative. The overview of the meetings is as follows.
- Minister Kamikawa stressed that in order to ensure the economic prosperity of APEC through the liberalization and facilitation of trade, maintaining and strengthening the WTO regime is essential, and for that purpose achieving a meaningful, tangible outcome at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) is important.
- Minister Kamikawa stated that, in light of ensuring the sustainability of marine environments and fishery resources, bringing the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies into force by the MC13 and providing assistance to developing countries in implementing the Agreement are important. She then introduced Japan's contribution to the WTO Fisheries Trust Fund as the first donor to that fund.
- Furthermore, Minister Kamikawa also stated that advancing APEC-wide growth with the participation of women, youth and MSMEs is a priority agenda in the areas of trade and investment and expressed her intention to promote APEC’s work to address this agenda.
- Many participants stated the importance of following up on the outcomes of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) and discussions leading up to MC13. Ministers reaffirmed APEC's continued support for a multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.