Press Releases
Meeting, Joint Press Statement and Working Dinner between Mr. IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
May 13, 2025
On May 13, Mr. IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) who is paying a visit to Japan. Following the meeting, Minister Iwaya and Dr. Okonjo-Iweala made a joint press statement. After that, a working dinner was held.
- At the outset, Minister Iwaya welcomed Director-General Okonjo-Iweala’s visit to Japan, praised her efforts and leadership as Director-General of the WTO, and stressed that the importance of the multilateral trading system remains unchanged even in the current severe international trade environment and the need to persistently advance WTO reform with the involvement of all Members.
- In response, Director-General Okonjo-Iweala expressed her appreciation for Japan's consistent support for the maintenance and strengthening of the WTO system, and her expectations for Japan's further efforts, including in the advancement of the WTO reform.
- Finally, Minister Iwaya and Director-General Okonjo-Iweala welcomed the Joint Press Release issued by the Japanese government and the WTO Secretariat as an outcome of this visit to Japan, which confirms the close cooperation between Japan and the WTO toward the strengthening of the multilateral trading system and advancement of the WTO reform. Minister Iwaya and Director-General Okonjo-Iweala then had a frank exchange of views on the current trade situation and discussed further concrete cooperation.
(Reference) Attachment
Joint Press Release by the Government of Japan and the World Trade Organization Secretariat (English (PDF) 
/ Japanese (PDF) )