ASIAN-PACIFIC-AMERICAS ZONE (- CHINA):

Japan a step closer to Southeast Asia (Suvendrini Kakuchi, 12/05/03, Asia Times)

A landmark agreement that Japan will sign with Southeast Asian countries next week paves the way for wider free trade and cooperation, marking what analysts say is a significant step toward East Asian unity.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Japan Commemorative Summit, to be held on December 11-12, is expected to lead to a "Tokyo Declaration" that will focus on the idea of an East Asian community and an East Asia Free Trade Area. The agreement would mark the culmination of years of discussion toward a multilateral free trade agreement (FTA) that would extend a legal framework to the already deep economic ties between Japan and Southeast Asia.

"The upcoming agreement is definitely a plus for Japan, the leading investor in Asia," says Mamoru Kobayashi, an expert on Southeast Asia at the prestigious Mitsubishi Research Institute. While the broad-based action plan to be discussed during the summit includes key sectors such as financial market integration, economic stability, education, technical training and security, much of the focus has been on an ASEAN plan to forge a free trade pact with Japan by 2012.

ASEAN, Southeast Asia's key diplomatic grouping, comprises Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

We should try to get an agreement between NAFTA and them, with Australia, Russia, and India thrown into the mix too.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 4, 2003 09:24 AM