ISDS Case Map
Japan
A crowd of more than 300 laborers, farmers, fishers, and environmentalists from the Magkaisa Junk JPEPA Coalition today called on the Senators of the 14th Congress to look beyond the rosy projections and government hype surrounding the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), and to carefully assess its short-term and long-term implications.
The Philippine Senate should hold back action on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement and instead go for renegotiation, this time involved affected sectors in the talks, said Quezon Rep. Lorenzo R. Tañada III.
We at the Fair Trade Alliance are not convinced that the JPEPA is a good template for a productive, balanced and win-win trade and economic partnership between Japan and the Philippines.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras said the Japan Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) will help boost Thailand's business potential but Japan's investment in Thailand will fall.
The Philippine national fishermen's alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas has voiced out suspicions that the timing of the release of a P125-million fertilizer grant from the Japanese government was “closely linked” to the approval of the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
The Japanese government is increasingly using free trade agreements (FTAs) to tighten corporate control over seeds and other forms of biodiversity that are crucial to food, agriculture and medicine. Two such deals sealed this month with Chile and Indonesia put Japan in the big league of nations using bilateral deals to make seed-saving on the farm a thing of the past.
To keep pace with South Korea, Japan will start joint research with the European Union as early as next month on a possible economic partnership agreement, sources said.
India is prime "real estate" for Japan, both in economic and defense terms. Most importantly, India is a large consumer market with the potential to increase profits for Japanese corporations.
Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reached a free trade agreement Saturday, under which Tokyo will immediately repeal tariffs on 90% of imports from ASEAN by value to catch up with China and South Korea in intensifying regional FTA races.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's team has begun a high-profile public relations blitz to urge the Senate to ratify a free-trade pact with Japan.
