Asean, Japan vow to finalize economic partnership in Nov

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan have committed to conclude their version of an economic partnership agreement at their next summit in Singapore this November.

This was indicated in a meeting between the Asean economic ministers and Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Akira Amari yesterday as a side event to the Asean Economic Ministers (AEM) forum at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

In a joint statement released after emerging from the 14th AEM-METI consultations, the ministers said they reached an agreement in principle on the major elements of the Asean-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP), which would provide for comprehensive arrangements covering a wide range of economic activities.

“In this regard, the ministers confirmed that all parties have finalized their lists for regional exchange of concessions for trade in goods. The ministers also took note of the progress on other parts of the agreement,” the statement said.

With the achievement made so far, the ministers agreed to expeditiously proceed with the work on the text, including the rules of origin, to conclude the AJCEP by November 2007.

They have tasked the Asean-Japan Committee on Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCCEP) to explore creative ways to narrow the gaps to accelerate the AJCEP “to finalize the AJCEP agreement by the Asean-Japan Summit in November 2007.”

The AJCCEP will thresh out the outstanding issues still under consideration.

The AEM-METI consultations was co-chaired by Amari and Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila, who is also the chairman of the AEM.

Japan is now Asean’s largest source of foreign direct investments (FDI), with Japanese firms pouring in $10.8 billion of fresh capital to the region in 2006, up from $7.2 billion in 2005.

Two-way trade between Japan and Asean also increased from $154.6 billion in 2005 to $161.8 billion in 2006.

The ministers noted the progress of the “Asean Common Investment Climate Initiative” that includes the holding of discussions between top management of Japanese corporations and the secretary-general of Asean, and the conduct of surveys on investors’ views.

To further investments and outsourcing in the region, the ministers said there is a need for a secure information technology (IT) environment.

In pursuit of this, Japan proposed cooperation initiatives in the field of IT security.

Aside from Japan, the Asean is also seeking to conclude negotiations for economic partnership agreements with New Zealand, Australia, China and Korea.