Masakazu Toyoda

Mr. Masakazu Toyoda most recently served as the Special Envoy on East Asian Affairs as well as Special Adviser on Climate Change to Prime Minister after he retired in 2008 from Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), where he held the position of Vice Minister for International Affairs.

Mr. Toyoda has a long career history at Japan's International Trade Policy Bureau, with positions including Director-General for both the International Trade Policy Bureau and Multilateral Trade System Department.

Mr. Toyoda joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in 1973, followed by the Petroleum Department, Energy and Resources Agency, two years later. He then followed up on his Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo with a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. In 1981, he was recruited by the Division of Alternative Energy, Energy and Resources Agency, before he came onboard the International Energy Agency (IEA), OECD, in 1983.

In 1987, Mr. Toyoda became Director for International Trade Policy Planning, General Affairs Division, International Trade Policy Bureau. This was followed by a stint as Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and Industry in 1990. A year later, he was made Director of the Tariff Division, International Economic Affairs Department, International Trade Policy Bureau, and then as Director of Aircraft and Ordnance Division, Machinery and Information Industries Bureau, in 1992. 

Since then, Mr. Toyoda has assumed a number of directorial positions, ranging from General Affairs Division, Environmental Protection and Industrial Location Bureau to Special Adviser (METI), to Secretary-General, Secretariat of Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy, Cabinet Secretariat. Mr. Toyoda serves as an international advisor to several institutions such as King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), Accenture, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Pacific International Center for High Technology Center and Brunei National Energy Research Institute (BNERI).