In another milestone move aimed at expanding economic ties with fast-growing East Asian nations, Japan and the Philippines agreed this week to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA). Increased trade and investment in this region is especially welcome at a time when multilateral trade talks under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are making little headway.
Japan concluded its first FTA, with Singapore, in 2002. Besides the Philippines, Japan is seeking to sign a similar pact with three other nations at an early date: Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea. Progress in these talks will give momentum to Tokyo's fledgling FTA strategy.
The latest accord, reached at a meeting between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Vientiane, Laos, has two main objectives: One is to remove or reduce barriers to trade and investment between the two nations; the other is to open the Japanese labor market to selected Philippine workers.