“I thank Japan for helping LDCs to be able to share their priorities,” Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. “If we are to make the WTO rule book more responsive to sustainability challenges and boost the role of the WTO as a multilateral negotiating forum, we need all WTO members to be sitting at the table.”

Japan's WTO Ambassador, Kazuyuki Yamazaki, said: “Fisheries subsidies disciplines are crucial for our future marine resource sustainability. In these final stages of negotiations for the 12th Ministerial Conference, full engagement from all WTO members, including LDCs, is highly important.”

Japan is the first WTO member to contribute to this fund in 2021. Overall, Japan has contributed CHF 11.3 million to the various WTO trust funds over nearly 20 years.