Trade ministers from four major world economies will gather in Tokyo in mid-May to hold annual trade talks aimed at kick-starting preparations for the millennium round of global free trade negotiations, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said Wednesday.
The Quadrilateral Trade Ministers Meeting, a two-day event Japan will host May 11 and 12 at a Tokyo hotel, will involve the United States, Canada and the European Union. With these four parties accounting for two-thirds of the world's trade volume, any consensus formed is expected to have a powerful impact on the global economy.
Attending for Japan will MITI chief Kaoru Yosano, who will chair the meeting, Leon Brittan, vice president of the European Commission, the EU's executive body, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, and Canadian Minister for International Trade Sergio Marchi.