ASEAN & Japan should settle free-trade deal dispute

24 Aug '06

3 min read

"The ASEAN ministers agreed to the proposal to do the study but however we reiterated that Japan and ASEAN should focus on the expeditious conclusion of the ASEAN-Japan (trade deal) that is to us very important. It can be the basis for a wider regional integration," she said.

ASEAN secretary-general Ong Keng Yong said the grouping wants Japan to offer a region-wide FTA, rather than "stringing together" existing pacts forged with individual nations in the grouping. Japan has signed bilateral FTAs with Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, and Ong said Tokyo wanted to bundle those along with a possible deal with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam."

"We believe it should not be intertwined," Rafidah said. Nikai said the issue was "a challenge which is unprecedented up to now".

"This is a matter of how to reconcile the regional agreement and the bilateral agreements," he said. One ASEAN official told AFP that the bloc also wants Japan to invest in its forestry sector -- important to Malaysia and Indonesia -- and fisheries sector -- sensitive to Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. The official said that Japanese expertise would help invigorate industry and provide employment for the region's vast population.

"For example, ASEAN wants to learn the business on how to can the fish. And in forestry, we do not want Japan to just buy the logs but to share its experience on producing the finished products," he said on condition of anonymity. "But Japan's position is that it just wants trade."

ASEAN and Japan agreed in 2002 to work towards a comprehensive economic partnership, including an FTA, and have pledged to try to finish negotiations on the entire deal by mid-2007.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

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