Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Alumni
  • Login
  • Volunteer
  • Clubs
  • Reunions
  • Magazine
  • Class Notes
  • Help
  • Give Now
  • Stories
  • Alumni Directory
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Careers
  • Programs & Events
  • Giving
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Alumni→
  • Stories→

Stories

Stories

21 Sep 2015

Helping Japan Build a Strong Economic Future

Re: Naoko Doi (MBA 1990)
Topics: Government and Politics-International RelationsGlobalization-Globalized Economies and Regions
ShareBar

As a trade negotiator, economic official, and scholar, Naoko Munakata (MBA 1990) has been immersed in Japan’s economic revitalization effort for the last 25 years. In 2013, as director-general for trade policy in Japan, she helped to pave the way for her nation’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with the United States, Singapore, Australia, Chile, and seven other countries.

“Strong political sensitivities over comprehensive tariff elimination—a TPP negotiating principle—made Japan’s participation extremely divisive,” notes Munakata. She credits Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s political leadership and negotiation skills with enabling Japan to join talks that could lead to one of the world’s largest trade deals.

In addition to filling a succession of high-level posts in Japanese trade and economic policy, Munakata has been a visiting scholar at George Washington University; a senior fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry; and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. She has written and lectured on Japan’s Asia policy and Asian economic integration. Her 2006 book, Transforming East Asia, analyzes the evolution of regional economies since the 1980s, a time when Asian nations began integrating among themselves through trade and investment.

In her current role as director-general of Japan’s Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, Munakata’s portfolio includes development assistance, trade insurance, and export control.

“My ambition at HBS was always to work on enhancing my country’s economic openness and vitality,” she says. “It’s been fascinating to work in this field during an era of historic change in many of Asia’s regional economies. I love the sense of achievement that has come with each of my assignments.”

(Published September 2015)

Support the next generation of leaders Make a gift now
ShareBar

Featured Alumni

Naoko Doi
MBA 1990
Login to send a message

Post a Comment

Featured Alumni

Naoko Doi
MBA 1990
Login to send a message

Related Stories

    • 01 Mar 2024
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    Research Brief: The Real Cost of Countering China

    Re: Laura Alfaro (Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration (Leave of Absence)); By: Jennifer Myers
    • 15 Jun 2021
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    Leading at State

    Re: Howard Cox (MBA 1969); Brian Bulatao (MBA 1995); David Ager (Senior Lecturer in Executive Education Managing Director, Executive Development, Executive Education)
    • 23 Oct 2019
    • Alumni Stories

    Negotiators Share Lessons from High-Stakes Global Diplomacy

    Re: James K. Sebenius (Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration)
    • 04 Jun 2018
    • New York Times

    Frank Carlucci, Carlyle Chairman Who Led Pentagon, Dies at 87

More Related Stories

 
 
 
ǁ
Campus Map
External Relations
Harvard Business School
Teele Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Phone: 1.617.495.6890
Email: alumni+hbs.edu
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.