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G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting Held
October 13, 2021
Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Mr. Hirose Naoshi, attended the G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting held on Tuesday, October 12 in Sorrento, Italy. Ministers discussed issues for which constructive cooperation within the G20 is necessary, given the recent international trade and investment environment. A Ministerial Statement was adopted at the close of the meeting.
Overview of the Meeting
- The G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting was held in Sorrento, Italy on October 12. METI’s Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Mr. Hirose Naoshi, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva, Mr. Yamazaki Kazuyuki, attended the Meeting representing Japan.
- With the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held at the end of November this year, and with the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change as global issues, the participants discussed how to contribute to solving these issues from a trade policy perspective. A Ministerial Statement was adopted following these discussions.
- Below are some of the key points raised by Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Mr. Hirose during the Meeting.
Comments by Vice-Minister Hirose
- Presently, multilateral fora such as the G20 and WTO are facing questions related to how they can contribute to solving the numerous issues the world is facing today, such as health and climate change. We look forward to advancing discussions on these newly arising issues and expect that G20 members and the WTO will fulfil their respective responsibilities.
- Development of new technologies at a rapid pace and the global dissemination of such technologies, including to developing countries, are both necessary in order to achieve global carbon neutrality.Thus, Japan has proposed the following; (a) rulemaking to promote the dissemination of goods and technologies that contribute to decreasing GHG emissions and (b) capacity-building of developing countries.
- The digital economy is growing and expanding at an ever-increasing pace.High-quality digital trade rules that substantiate the concept of Data Free Flow with Trust will bridge the digital divide and enable each country to benefit from the digital economy. We should therefore aim for an early agreement of the WTO e-commerce negotiations.
- Ensuring a level playing field in the global market is of critical importance. Discussions on increasing transparency should be encouraged alongside the improvement of transparency within the notification process at the WTO, in order to identify the actual situation of government support programs that are in place.Moreover, Japan aims to initiate discussions to strengthen disciplines on industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises in due course within the WTO.
Ministerial Statement
Division in Charge
Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade Policy Bureau