Japan, ASEAN officials hold talks in Tokyo<\/p>\n
Kenji Hall, Associated Press, Tokyo<\/p>\n
Japanese and Southeast Asian officials opened two days of
\nmeetings on Monday to finalize the agenda for a December summit
\nexpected to call for freer trade and closer security cooperation.<\/p>\n
The summit, which begins Dec. 11, is expected to give Prime
\nMinister Junichiro Koizumi a chance to nudge Japan closer to a
\nfree trade pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\n(ASEAN), a major regional trading partner.<\/p>\n
But Japan's resistance to opening its heavily protected farm
\nsector remains a huge obstacle to liberalizing trade with other
\ncountries, with Tokyo having signed only a free-trade agreement
\nwith Singapore so far.<\/p>\n
During this week's meetings, Japanese officials were to
\npropose ways to liberalize bilateral trade in goods from next
\nyear with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, Foreign
\nMinistry official Masami Tamura said.<\/p>\n
Negotiations were also expected to focus on combating
\nterrorism, establishing intellectual property rights protection
\nand promoting political and cultural exchanges, he said, without
\nelaborating.<\/p>\n
The talks in Tokyo come on the heels of last month's ASEAN
\nsummit in Bali, Indonesia. At the Oct. 8-9 annual summit, leaders
\nfrom Japan and ASEAN nations signed a pledge to reduce tariffs
\nand other trade barriers as a first step toward sealing a free-
\ntrade pact over the next decade.<\/p>\n
ASEAN, which consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
\nMalaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
\nVietnam, is an attractive market for Japan. More than 500 million
\npeople, or about 17 percent of the world's population, make up
\nthose 10 nations.<\/p>\n
Japan is already the bloc's second-biggest trading partner and
\ninvestor, after the United States. In 2001, two-way trade
\namounted to US$99.2 billion, or 14.4 percent of ASEAN's total.<\/p>\n
The region has become a major manufacturing base for Japanese
\ncompanies, particularly high-tech firms and automakers.<\/p>\n
But trade has flagged in recent years. Tokyo is hoping to
\ndeepen its ties with ASEAN as the bloc works toward forging a
\nEuropean-style economic community over the next two decades.<\/p>\n
The two sides agreed last month to begin discussions next
\nyear, starting with opening their borders to each other's goods.
\nThey will try to widen the scope to services in 2005 - tackling
\nissues such as easing customs and visa restrictions - and begin
\nimplementing the plan by 2012.<\/p>\n
Officials declined to comment on the specifics of Monday's
\ndiscussions. A briefing was planned for journalists after the
\nmeetings end Tuesday, said another Foreign Ministry spokesman,
\nHideki Adachi.<\/p>",
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