It is "extremely important" to advance reforms of the World Trade Organization to deal with challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic on global trade and economic development, said a senior Japanese economist on Wednesday.

Pushing ahead WTO reforms will help maintain the rules of global trade, which is a key channel for economic growth in many countries but has been hammered by the pandemic, said Masahiro Kawai, representative director and director-general of the Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia (ERINA).

The ERINA is a Japan-based institute committed to strengthening regional economic development and cooperation. Before joining the ERINA in 2016, Kawai used to serve as dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute.