RP sponsors Asean for Jpepa-like deal
The Daily Tribune (Manila)
RP sponsors Asean for Jpepa-like deal
10/28/2006
As a bilateral agreement between Japan and Philippines on free trade has been submitted for close scrutiny by Congress over alleged provisions that would allow the dumping of toxic wastes in the country, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila is now negotiating in behalf of the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for a similar trade liberalization deal.
Japan and the Asean will try to reach a consensus on areas of tariff elimination and its time frame by the end of the year to spur talks on a free trade agreement (FTA), trade ministers from Japan and the Philippines agreed yesterday.
Before he left for Japan, Favila called senators who sought a detailed review of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) self-proclaimed experts.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the move would raise the possibility that Japan and the 10-member group will conclude FTA negotiations next spring as envisaged by the two sides. The Philippines serves as Asean’s coordinator for FTA talks with Japan.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari told Favila during a meeting in Tokyo that Japan wants to table a forward-looking proposal in the tariff area during a planned meeting in December of economic ministers from Japan and Asean in the Philippines, according to a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry official.
Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Asean is speeding up regional economic integration by accelerating the free trade area schedule helped along by the bullish economic performance in recent years.
The economies of Asean members grew by an average 5.5 percent last year despite soaring global oil prices, bird flu attacks and major natural disasters in several member countries.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to the region surged by 48 percent to $38 billion in 2005 from the previous year, according to the data released by the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta.
FDI outlook for 2006 is also bullish with FDI flows jumping 90 percent to $14 billion in the first quarter from $7.4 billion registered for the same period in 2005.
"The favorable climate in Asean in terms of our good business environment (and) the idea of economic integration have been contributing to this inflow of FDI," Asean Secretary General Ong Keng Yong said in an interview.
Export from the bloc rose 13.5 percent to $646 billion in 2005 against $569.4 billion a year earlier. The upward trend continued to the first quarter of 2006 with a 17.7 percent growth in export compared with the same period last year.
Asean economic ministers agreed to bring forward the date for the economic integration from 2020 to 2015 during a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, in August and will recommend the new date to their leaders during the Asean Summit this year.
Asean countries are well on the way towards full realization of the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) initiated in 1992, which becomes the key component in the economic integration.
The six Asean founding countries - Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei - have brought down tariffs of 99.77 percent of the products in the common effective preferential tariff (CEPT) scheme to 0 percent to 5 percent.
Other members that joined the Asean later - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam - have moved 90.96 percent of their products traded in the region to the CEPT scheme and tariffs of 78.86 percent of those products have been reduced to the 0 percent - 5 percent tariff band.
In tariff reduction, the four less developed economies are not far behind the six original CEPT agreement signatories to allow faster process towards the establishment of the Asean Economic Community five years ahead of schedule.
Another reason why the 10 Asean countries are determined to speed up the integration process is because they will complete FTA negotiations by 2014 with major dialogue partners like China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand, said Ong.
