Economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan aim to finalize a 10-year road map to double trade between the region and the world’s third largest economy, a statement posted on the Web site of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) last week said.
METI said in its statement that the ASEAN-Japan 10-year Strategic Economic Cooperation Roadmap will be presented for approval when ASEAN economic ministers (AEM) and METI counterparts meet in Cambodia in August.
It added that the road map will be based on results of informal AEM-METI consultations during the ASEAN road show in Japan last April 25-28.
Proposal for such a road map was first raised during the AEM-METI meeting in August last year, “with a vision of doubling trade for the mutual benefit of ASEAN and Japan,” the statement said.
Data on ASEAN’s Web site show trade between Southeast Asia and Japan totaled some $206.6 billion in 2010, making the latter the region’s third biggest trading partner after China and the European Union that year.
The road map will focus on five priority areas, namely: trade and investment liberalization, facilitation and promotion; system harmonization; improvement of logistics and distribution networks; narrowing development gaps; and promoting advanced industrial development.
The statement added that “a follow-up mechanism for implementation of the road map” will also be established.
ASEAN and Japan officials also said they hope to launch talks for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership by yearend.
The envisioned pact will involve all 10 member countries of ASEAN — the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — as well as Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
ASEAN and METI officials also pushed for the continued review of existing trade agreements between ASEAN and Japan, “with a view to advancing wider regional integration.” ASEAN itself targets intra-regional integration by 2015.
Bilateral trade pacts between Japan and ASEAN members should also be “improved into more user-friendly agreements [sic] which include support for seamless business environments through the reduction of barriers in the areas of transportation, distribution and logistics,” the statement said.
The Philippines itself had signed a wide-ranging economic partnership agreement with Japan in 2006. Both countries are set to review the bilateral pact this year.
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By KAMP
Source: BusinessWorld, May 14, 2012
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