FTA with ASEAN a must for Japan

The Daily Yomiuri, Asia News Network, Tokyo

If the government continues to be preoccupied with the interests of a few, the interests of all will be jeopardized.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed with top leaders from Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines to open separate negotiations aimed at signing bilateral free trade agreements. The latest development came when Koizumi held separate meetings with these leaders, who are in Tokyo for a two- day summit between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Japan is already making preparations to start FTA negotiations with South Korea in late December. In early 2004, this country is scheduled to open preliminary talks aimed at signing an economic partnership treaty with the 10-member ASEAN as a whole.

Rapid progress has been made toward reaching FTAs among many nations in recent years. Japan is falling behind in this regard, with Singapore as its only FTA partner. Under the circumstances, Japan could find itself behind China and India in their respective efforts to conclude FTAs.

The ASEAN trading bloc is Japan's second largest trade partner after the United States. Lack of progress in forming economic partnerships between Japan and the ASEAN economies would hamper efforts to smoothly expand bilateral trade. This would undermine Japan's efforts to achieve stable economic growth.

With this in mind, Japan should accelerate efforts to sign FTAs with individual ASEAN nations and an FTA-based economic- partnership treaty with the 10-member bloc.

Japan will face many hurdles in negotiating FTAs with ASEAN economies.

Japanese efforts to conclude FTAs with ASEAN nations have been preceded by an attempt to sign a similar accord with Mexico. However, Japan and Mexico were unable to reach a consensus on a Mexican demand for an end to Japanese import restrictions on pork, oranges and other farm products.

In the end, the two nations failed to reach an agreement when the Mexican president visited Japan in October. Under the circumstances, it is virtually impossible for the two countries to resolve their differences by the end of the year.

The gridlock in negotiations between Japan and Mexico is partly due to objections raised by Japanese farmers and agricultural organizations who fear that ending import restrictions on Mexican farm products could lead to opening up domestic markets to agricultural goods from other nations. Their sentiments have been echoed by lawmakers with vested interests in the agricultural sector.

It is expected similar objections may be raised in various sectors about demands from South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. These nations have urged Japan to open its market to farm and marine products, as well as nurses and nursing-care personnel.

For years, it has been suggested that the government devise a comprehensive trade strategy that would better complement domestic industrial policies. This calls for looking ahead five years -- or even 10 years.

The question is how should the government make headway in liberalizing the domestic market for farm imports and foreign workers? It is important to consider what must be done to make the domestic agricultural sector and relevant industries internationally competitive.

So far, the government has been unable to come up with ways to meet these challenges. This is largely because some ministries and legislators are trying to defend the interests of a few.

However, there are signs of changes taking place. The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has begun work to revise its food and agricultural policies. The ministry is seeking to make Japan's agricultural sector more competitive in the global market through a number of measures, including subsidies to farmers. This is apparently aimed at ensuring that the farm industry will be able to survive if import restrictions on agricultural products are lifted.

Meanwhile, some members of the ruling coalition are trying to set up a committee comprising officials from the government and the ruling parties that would help reach FTAs with other nations.

The government should take advantage of these efforts to sign FTAs with the individual ASEAN countries and the regional bloc as a whole.