The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry's 2008 white paper on trade says the subprime mortgage loan crisis in the United States is affecting the U.S., European and other economies. It notes that since soaring food and resources prices are globally causing inflationary pressure, the activities of developed countries with a combined population of 1 billion people and those of emerging economies with a combined population of 4 billion are significant for the Japanese economy.
It calls for deeper economic ties with Asian economies which, with a combined population of 3 billion, are realizing high economic growth. But in the long term, Japan should not neglect to strive for a successful Doha round of trade talks under the World Trade Organization despite the collapse of this week's meeting in Geneva. Japan relies on trade for its economic existence.
The white paper says that nominal gross domestic product in the emerging economies more than doubled in the past five years and that 2007 saw Japanese exports to China increase by 20 percent, to India and the Middle East by 40 percent, and to Russia by 50 percent. It says the Asian emerging economies, with their income growing, have the potential of forming a large consumer market with a similar orientation to Japan's.