Speaker

Yoichi SUZUKI

Ambassador of Japan to France

Yoichi Suzuki is the Japanese Ambassador to France since November 2013. He joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1975. Hewas Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the WTO in Geneva, Deputy Director General, Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consul General of Japan in Boston, Director-General, Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan’s G8 Foreign Affairs Sous Sherpa and Ambassador to Singapore. He has long experience in international trade negotiations both multilateral and regional. He led the Japanese Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Malaysia and Thainland among others. Mr. Suzuki chaired the Regular Committee on Agriculture of WTO and the OECD Trade Committee . He also sat on WTO Dispute Settlement Panel.

He received a law degree, LL.B, from Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo and also is a graduate of Ecole Nationale d’Administration of France (MA in Public Administration). He has taught briefly at the Institut National des Langues et Civilizations Orientales, Paris. He has published a series of articles on WTO negotiations in the journal “Gaiko Forum” and reviews of the International Economic Law Association of Japan.