The event was organized by Konrad Adaneur Stiftung, a German political foundation which has been engaged in pursuing healthy trade policy issues and equity across the world since long.
Nearly 30 experts from 16 countries were participating in the event held on 2-4 December, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. The agenda was both on global issues and South East Asian issues.
The steering committee of the TRaNJA is cochaired by Shashi Tharoor, MP and former foreign minister of India and Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the WTO. In total it has 21 distinguished members from all corners of the world.
In launching the TRaNJA project, said CUTS Secretary General, Pradeep S. Mehta, “….there has long been a conversation about the necessity of WTO reform and and reinvigoration of the multilateral trading system, which is under strain. This conversation has gained much significance today, against the backdrop of rising unilateralism and protectionism in global trade.
“There is so much written about the WTO’s decline, that many fail to appreciate the crucial role it still plays in our daily lives. The WTO is a global public good and the bulwark of the rules based multilateral trading system. Around 70% of the world trade still occurs on non-discriminatory, MFN terms agreed at the WTO.
“The predictability and stability provided by the WTO system has raised world trade volumes by over 45 times the level of trade in the 1950s”.Mehta said, “In my view, the first task needs to be to cultivate a positive narrative around the centrality of the WTO in the global trade architecture. Unless there is a conducive environment, there will be no political interest in undertaking meaningful reforms”.
Major WTO players and middle powers need to join forces to pursue a single point agenda. Many members may need to relook at their long heldpositions. Countries need to form a coalition of the willing for preserving systemic interests and advancing WTO reform.
Evidence based knowledge outputs reiterating the importance of the WTO and outlining its strengths and weaknesses, alongwith possible contours of reform, need to be supplied from outside to complement the discussions inside.
“Overall I have seen the benefits of a freer, fairer, rules based multilateral trade with the WTO at its centre for decades. I have also seen the perils of protectionism and unilateralism. My fervent plea to this gathering is to not write off the MTS with the WTO as its base”.
He was supported by Dr Mia Mikic, Chairperson, Friends of Multilateral Group from New Zealand and Dr Peter Draper, Executive Director, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide, Australia.