August 10, 2021 Results of the Visit of Mr. TAKEDA Ryota, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, to Italy and France

From August 4 to 8, 2021, Mr. TAKEDA Ryota, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, visited Italy and France.
In Trieste, Italy, he attended the G20 Digital Ministerial Meeting and held bilateral meetings with the ministers and other representatives from various countries. In Paris, France, he held talks with Mr. Mathias Cormann, who took office as Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) this June. They exchanged views on key policy issues in the digital economy, including AI and Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT).
He also took the opportunity of meeting with dignitaries from various countries during his trip to request their support for METOKI Masahiko in the next election of the Secretary-General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

1．G20 Digital Ministerial Meeting

The G20 Digital Ministerial Meeting was held in Trieste, Italy, on Thursday, August 5th. Under the overall theme of “Leveraging Digitalisation for a Resilient, Strong, Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery,” the G20 countries discussed key digital economy and digital government issues, including responsible AI and DFFT. Following the discussions, the Declaration of the G20 Digital Ministers was adopted.

2．Bilateral meetings with representatives of G20 countries

Taking the opportunity of the G20 Digital Ministerial Meeting, Minister TAKEDA exchanged views with the representatives of the following countries and agreed to strengthen their future bilateral cooperation in the field of the digital economy.

• 1.
  Argentina
• 2.
  Brazil
• 3.
  Germany
• 4.
  Italy
• 5.
  Saudi Arabia
• 6.
  Singapore
• 7.
  South Africa

3．Talks with Mr. Mathias Cormann, OECD’s Secretary-General

He held talks with Mr. Mathias Cormann, who took office as Secretary-General of the OECD this June and exchanged views on key policy issues in the digital economy, including AI and DFFT. As a result of the talks, they agreed to further strengthen the collaboration between the OECD and Japan in discussing the digital economy in the future.

4. Request for support in the election of the Secretary-General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU)

During this trip, he took the opportunity to meet with dignitaries from various countries to request their support for METOKI Masahiko’s candidacy for the Secretary-General of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).