March 3rd 4:00-6:00 @ UBC Institute of Asian Research Room 120
Masahiro Kawai (University of Tokyo)
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was broadly agreed in Atlanta in October 2015 and signed by the 12 members in February 2016.
Prof. Kawai will first review Japan’s trade and investment activities primarily in the Asia Pacific region, emphasizing that Asia is the most profitable region for Japanese multinational corporations. Next he will discuss Japan’s approach to agreements, the importance of TPP and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for Japan, and challenges for Japan in implementing TPP and forging RCEP. According to him, the next challenges are: TPP ratification; agricultural sector reform; TPP membership expansion; and acceleration of CJK FTA, RCEP, and EU-Japan EPA negotiations. Finally, Prof. Kawai will explore implications of the development of mega-regionals for the global trading system, arguing that the WTO needs to reform itself to restore its central role in global trade governance by pro-actively supporting and coordinating mega-regional arrangements.
Masahiro Kawai (University of Tokyo)
Dr. Kawai is a Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo. He began his professional career as a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He then taught economics as an Associate Professor at The Johns Hopkins University and as a Professor at the University of Tokyo. He also served as Chief Economist for the World Bank’s East Asia and the Pacific Region, as Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs of Japan’s Finance, and as Dean of the Asian Development Bank. He holds a BA in economics from the University of Tokyo and a PhD in economics from Stanford University.
Saori N. Katada (Discussant)
Saori N. Katada is an Associate Professor at the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California. She is the author of Banking on Stability: Japan and the Cross-Pacific Dynamics of International Financial Crisis Management (University of Michigan Press, 2001), which was awarded the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Book Award in 2002. She has her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Political Science) in 1994, and B.A. from Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo). Before joining USC, she served as a researcher at the World Bank in Washington D.C., and as International Program officer at the UNDP in Mexico City.
See the poster for the event here