Japan and Mexico are poised to give the final go-ahead Friday on a free-trade agreement that trade officials hope will smooth the way for bilateral deals closer to home in Asia.
The deal, to be signed as early as June, will bring Mexico a much-needed boost to slumping foreign investment and create new jobs over the next decade. For Japan, it will open doors to cheaper farm products and help car and steel manufacturers gain more access to the Mexican market.
Most importantly, an FTA would show Japan is able to ignore the cries of powerful agriculture interest groups to heed the calls of special industry interest groups. The hope is that the Japanese people, who pay an estimated 3.8 trillion yen to import 60 percent of what they eat, will benefit.