Press Releases
Foreign Minister Hayashi’s attendance at the WTO Informal Ministerial Meeting hosted by Switzerland
January 21, 2022
On January 21, commencing at 8:00 p.m. Japan time for approximately 3 hours, H.E. Mr. Guy Parmelin, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Switzerland, hosted the World Trade Organization (WTO) informal ministerial meeting in an online format. From the Japanese side, Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. HAGIUDA Koichi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Mr. TAKEBE Arata, State Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries attended.
- This meeting is held each year on the occasion of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, with relevant countries invited by Switzerland. The meeting was held online this year.
- At the meeting, due to the postponement of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) which was scheduled to take place in November 2021, there were discussions on the future work of addressing the main areas of WTO negotiations such as response to the pandemic, negotiation on fisheries subsidies, negotiation on agriculture and the WTO reform.
- Minister Hayashi stated that we need to move forward with a sense of urgency so as not to lose the momentum generated last year, and called for the necessity of delivering outcomes in all of the four major areas avoiding backsliding of our discussion. He also pointed out that the response to the pandemic remains urgent, and we need to achieve holistic outcomes.
- The participating ministers confirmed that they would continue to cooperate closely toward holding MC12.