Malaysia, Japan on course for FTA pact
Malaysia, Japan on course for FTA pact
Agence France-Presse, Tokyo
Malaysia's prime minister in waiting said Friday his country
is on course to forge a free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan as
it is determined to maintain its "Look-East" policy of learning
from the rest of Asia.
"The (FTA) talks are progressing very well," Malaysian Deputy
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told a news conference here.
"There has been no difficulty."
Abdullah said he expects a "positive" result from a third
round of Malaysia-Japan FTA talks in September, involving a study
group which has been expanded to include government officials,
private-sector representatives and academics.
Japan set up its first-ever FTA in November 2002, with
Singapore, and is working on similar pacts with other members of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as
South Korea and Mexico.
Abdullah said the progress of Malaysia's FTA talks with Japan
is "going faster" than that of the Thailand and the Philippines.
Abdullah has been tapped by the ruling United Malays National
Organization (UMNO) party to succeed Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad in October.
Dubbing it an "over-arching policy," Abdullah said Mahathir's
two-decade-old Look-East policy would "remain a very important
basic policy" for Malaysia with any adjustments necessitated by
changing circumstances.
Mahathir, 77, who pledged last year to retire after 22 years
in power, has pioneered the policy to adopt eastern labor ethics,
morale and management practices to spur Malaysia's economic and
social development.
Abdullah said he agreed with Japan's Finance Minister Masajuro
Shiokawa to press for the establishment of an Asian bond market
"as soon as possible" when they met on Thursday.
He added that there was debate over which currency should lead
the proposed Asian bond market.
Business leaders are considering a "multi-currency" bond
market, Abdullah said, adding that the original concept of the
scheme was to have the "most popular, strongest and most stable
currency" play a central role.
In October, Thailand first floated its idea of an Asian bond
market where Asian countries voluntarily contribute one per cent
of their reserves to a fund to purchase Asian bonds, a scheme
that could be immune to currency speculation and capital flight.
Asked about the possibility of introducing a single Asian
currency modeled on the euro, Abdullah said: "Maybe it's a little
bit too early to have that; there has been much talk about the
yen as a (pan-) Asian currency."