S'pore, Japan officially begin free trade talks<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore and Japan on Wednesday officially
\nbegan talks on a free trade agreement, as Senior Minister Lee
\nKuan Yew said such pacts were a way of reaching out to the world.<\/p>\n
The two-day talks behind closed doors at a Singapore luxury
\nhotel follow preparatory discussions here earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Both countries will take turns in hosting rounds of
\nnegotiations with the aim of signing an accord by the year's end.<\/p>\n
Lee, Singapore's founding father and former prime minister,
\nhas defended the country's efforts to forge bilateral trade
\npacts, citing the failure of the Seattle round of global trade
\ntalks in 1999 and the emergence of Europe as a large economic
\nunion.<\/p>\n
"We have to reach out. It's a compelling issue for us," Lee
\ntold reporters in Davos, Switzerland where he attended the World
\nEconomic Forum.<\/p>\n
"It makes sense for every ASEAN country to reach out," he said
\nof the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which groups
\nSingapore along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
\nMyanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Lee said Japan was likely to return "in strength" into
\nSoutheast Asia once it gets over its economic difficulties.<\/p>\n
"They (Japanese) industrialized Southeast Asia. Their
\ninvestments, technology and products were the ones that created
\nthe East Asia miracle," he said.<\/p>\n
"They won't allow grass to grow under their feet and let the
\nChinese or the Europeans take over Southeast Asia."<\/p>\n
China, during a meeting of East Asian leaders here in
\nNovember, said it hoped to negotiate a free trade arrangement
\nwith ASEAN.<\/p>\n
While Japan is said to be exploring the same idea, Lee said
\nthe prospects depended on the willingness of Japan's huge and
\npowerful agricultural sector to make concessions.<\/p>\n
Many ASEAN members also have large agricultural sectors.<\/p>\n
Last year, the draft plan for the proposed Japan-Singapore
\nfree trade agreement came under fire at the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) summit in Brunei from noted economist Fred
\nBergsten.<\/p>\n
He said Japan's reluctance to liberalize in agriculture,
\nfishery and forest products, "clearly violates the agreed precept
\nof APEC liberalization of comprehensive coverage."<\/p>\n
The talks in Singapore were expected to focus on a "new age
\npartnership" in such areas as trade in goods and services,
\ninvestment, harmonization of regulatory procedures, competition
\npolicy as well as information and communication technology.<\/p>\n
Lim Chin Beng, the chairman of Singapore Technologies
\nAerospace and a former ambassador to Tokyo, headed the city-
\nstate's delegation, while Kazuo Asakai, ambassador for
\ninternational economic affairs, led the Japanese side.<\/p>\n
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and his Japanese
\ncounterpart Yoshiro Mori agreed at an Asia-Pacific leaders'
\nsummit in Brunei last November on the need for such an agreement.<\/p>\n
If successful, it would be the first free-trade agreement for
\nJapan, the world's second largest economy which had previously
\nfavored multilateral trade pacts such as the World Trade
\nOrganization.<\/p>\n
Singapore last year sealed a free-trade agreement with New
\nZealand and is currently negotiating a similar accord with the
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
It also hopes to forge similar trade pacts with Canada, Mexico
\nand Australia, sparking concerns that the slew of bilateral
\nagreements could undermine the multilateral process.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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