Summit Dialogue, Ep. 13: Masahiro Kawai on the Japanese G20 Summit in Osaka

This podcast with Masahiro Kawai continues our country tour focused on the Osaka G20 Summit. Japan was, of course a key actor for this Summit with its hosting of this year’s annual G20 Summit. With growing competition between powers - China, Russia and the United States – the hosting has placed even greater pressure on those countries that host the annual G20. Japan also had a stressful year as a result of other events – the abdication of the Emperor and elections for the Upper Chamber. These events led Japan to initiate a truncated period before the Leaders’ Summit which took place on June 28-29th. The Summit witnessed a ‘reality TV series’ of meetings for President Trump – with China’s Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin of Russia, the Saudi Crown Prince and topped off with a meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea at the Korean DMZ. Difficult negotiations taxed Prime Minister’s Abe and his officials in finalizing the Leaders’ Declaration. Masahiro Kawai was an ideal guest as he was ‘well plugged in’ to the official Japanese G20 and T20 processes. Masahiro Kawai today is a Professor of the Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo and Representative Director and Director General, Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia (ERINA). He has held many official roles including Dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) Come listen to his valuable insights on Japan’s hosting of the G20 Osaka Summit.