Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) in 1995, Mr. Hajime Ueda served in the embassies in the Philippines and Iran, as well as the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. In 2019, Mr. Ueda was appointed as Director of the Second Southeast Asia Division of MOFA, overseeing relations with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Timor-Leste. In 2021, Mr. Ueda was named Director for Aid Policy in the International Cooperation Bureau.  Most recently, in September 2023, he became Minister for Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Indonesia.