Japan will host an informal World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Tokyo in mid-February, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Tuesday.
Japan hopes to contribute to the whole WTO negotiation process so that resolutions can be reached on "important topics," Kawaguchi said, referring to the impending deadline for farm trade talks under a new WTO round.
Japan has apparently decided to sponsor the meeting in a bid to break a deadlock in farm trade talks with agriculture-exporting Cairns group countries, including Australia and Canada.