The Japanese government will appoint a permanent representative focusing on the World Trade Organization for the first time at its permanent mission to international organizations in Geneva, according to Foreign Ministry officials.
The decision is apparently designed to strengthen cooperation and coordination with other countries at the WTO, the core of the multilateral trading system, to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on their products.
"The situation around the multilateral trading system has become even more challenging, but I'll work to achieve results," Katsuro Nagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Indonesia, who will arrive as the first representative to the WTO on Wednesday, said in an interview.
At Japan's Geneva mission, Nagai has been a high-ranking diplomat who served as the permanent representative to all international organizations there, including the WTO, the U.N. Trade and Development and the World Intellectual Property Organization.
The WTO has faced challenges in recent years, including the suspension of its dispute settlement function.
Nagai, who previously served as economic minister at the Geneva mission, said, "I hope to contribute to the creation of new rules and WTO reform by taking advantage of my experience in free trade talks."
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