IMF, World Bank to Help Japan's "Recovery" by Holding Annual Meeting in Tokyo in October

How nice of them.

Japan is probably a great choice, because the country is about the only place in the world where both IMF and World Bank can hold their meetings in peace, without loud protests going on against them and their officials and the police battling the protesters.

In fact, very idealistic (read "naive") people, both young and not so young, on Twitter are saying "Oh, maybe we can appeal to these world leaders about our bad government starting nuclear power plants against our wish!"

Sorry boys and girls. IMF, or World Bank, is probably the last place you want to appeal for the nuclear-free world.

As the Secretary General of the Japan Secretariat for the 2012 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, Ministry of Finance proudly recollects in the statement below, the last time Tokyo was selected to host the IMF/World Bank annual meeting was in 1964, the year Tokyo Olympics was held. A proud moment for the nation (at least the Olympics was). Secretary General Naka says Japan wants the repeat.

His words eerily echo those bizarre, off-the-mark PR commercials made by the Ministry of Finance to appeal to the world how Japan has recovered from the earthquake of March 11, 2011 (no mention of tsunami or nuke accident).

From the website set up by Japan's Ministry of Finance, "2012 Tokyo Annual Meetings - International Monetary Fund World Bank Group", Introduction:

With growing uncertainty facing the global economy, cooperation and partnership among the countries has never been more important. The Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, to be held in Tokyo in October 2012, will aim to promote global economic stability and to deliver a promising new start.

Following the first Tokyo Annual Meetings in 1964, this will mark the second time that these meeting are held in Tokyo.
Together with the Tokyo Olympics that were held in the same year, the 1964 Annual Meetings were an opportunity to promote Japan to the world and one of the driving forces behind Japan’s post-war new start.

A half century has passed since.
Japan presented itself as a candidate nation to host the 2012 Annual Meetings in hopes of once again achieving a new start.
We want the people of the world to see a nation that is in the process of a strong recovery following the devastating earthquake.

We want to demonstrate the underlying power of the Japanese economy through our unique advanced technologies and services, and by conducting a global event with perfect efficiency.

At the Annual Meetings here in Japan, where the importance of partnership and solidarity is well understood and appreciated, we want to strengthen the bonds between the countries and forge the global resolve to sweep away the uncertainty surrounding the global economy.

October 2012: From Tokyo, a promising new start for Japan and the global economy

Hiroshi Naka

Secretary General
The Japan Secretariat for the 2012 Annual Meetings of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group,
Ministry of Finance, Japan

(I'm embarrassed reading this blurp... The original Japanese is just as embarrassing. It reads like it was written by a copy writer at Dentsu or Hakuhodo. Maybe it was...)

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