Drawing on his experience as the World Bank’s Representative in Japan, Mr. Yoneyama observed that Japan—and many Asian economies—benefited from a benign international environment fostered by multilateralism. He emphasized that international institutions were built to ensure past hardships would not be repeated, noting Japan’s postwar reconstruction and projects like the Shinkansen as examples of those benefits.
Reporter: Koki Imon.
For more detailed contents of this meeting, please see here..
Full Statement (English Translation)
(Translated faithfully from the Japanese text above.)
“Until last summer I served as the World Bank’s Representative in Japan, and I believe that is why I was invited today. I am grateful.
Today’s wide-ranging discussions—spanning history, the world economy, and geopolitics—were highly inspiring. As the speakers noted, Japan was probably the greatest beneficiary of multilateralism after it took shape. Japan—and indeed the world—enjoyed a favorable international environment that enabled rapid economic growth. The same is true of the rapid growth of China, Korea, and India.
International institutions have been shaped by long experience and a determination born of past hardships. The World Bank, where I previously served, was founded out of the resolve not to repeat the suffering of the 1930s. Japan benefited in many ways, including in postwar reconstruction and in the Shinkansen.”
