TOKYO : Japan said Friday it will begin a sixth round of talks with Indonesia next week on a bilateral free trade agreement, aiming to overcome differences in the faltering negotiations.
The two Asian nations agreed in July last year to begin working towards the signing of a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which includes trade in goods and services, investment, movement of people and competition policies. The Japanese delegation for the talks in Tokyo from Tuesday to Friday will be headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka while Indonesian Ambassador Soemadi Brotodiningrat leads the team from Jakarta. There will be consultations on trade in goods and services, and investment. Participants will work on a draft agreement, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement. Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said in August that there were "a number of difficult issues to be resolved" in the talks, rating the chance of their conclusion by the end of the year as 50-50. Pangestu said Indonesia's differences with Japan were not related to tariffs but to the issue of standards placed on products. She said negotiations on services and investments had also run into difficulties. Japan has been increasingly pursuing free trade pacts, seeking to secure access to raw materials and markets for its exports. It has stepped up negotiations amid a stalemate in global trade liberalisation talks, which were suspended in July amid an impasse between the European Union and the United States over agricultural reform. Japan's first FTA, with Singapore, took effect in late 2002 and Tokyo has since agreed on deals with Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. It has ongoing negotiations with South Korea, six oil-rich Gulf nations and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a whole. - AFP/ch
TOKYO : Japan said Friday it will begin a sixth round of talks with Indonesia next week on a bilateral free trade agreement, aiming to overcome differences in the faltering negotiations.The two Asian nations agreed in July last year to begin working towards the signing of a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which includes trade in goods and services, investment, movement of people and competition policies. The Japanese delegation for the talks in Tokyo from Tuesday to Friday will be headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka while Indonesian Ambassador Soemadi Brotodiningrat leads the team from Jakarta. There will be consultations on trade in goods and services, and investment. Participants will work on a draft agreement, the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement. Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said in August that there were "a number of difficult issues to be resolved" in the talks, rating the chance of their conclusion by the end of the year as 50-50. Pangestu said Indonesia's differences with Japan were not related to tariffs but to the issue of standards placed on products. She said negotiations on services and investments had also run into difficulties. Japan has been increasingly pursuing free trade pacts, seeking to secure access to raw materials and markets for its exports. It has stepped up negotiations amid a stalemate in global trade liberalisation talks, which were suspended in July amid an impasse between the European Union and the United States over agricultural reform. Japan's first FTA, with Singapore, took effect in late 2002 and Tokyo has since agreed on deals with Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. It has ongoing negotiations with South Korea, six oil-rich Gulf nations and the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a whole. - AFP/ch 