ISDS Case Map
Japan
Philippine officials may be upbeat about finalizing the bilateral free-trade agreement with Japan this weekend, but there is some concern that the country's medical workers will be the losers in the deal.
Filipino and Japanese groups participating in the Asia Europe People's Forum in Helsinki expressed their strong opposition to the reported plan of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi and Philippine President Arroyo to finalize the deal over the contentious Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting in Helsinki next week.
Japan has said it will sign a free-trade pact with the Philippines, ending prolonged negotiations that had stalled largely over how many Filipino nurses could come to work in the world's second-largest economy.
Japan has agreed with the Philippines to set an upper limit on the number of Philippine nurses and caregivers -- 400 to 500 annually -- it will accept under a bilateral free trade agreement which is scheduled to be signed by leaders of the two countries on Sept. 9, government sources said Thursday.
Eli Lilly and Company chairman and CEO, Sidney Taurel, today made the case for a Japan-US Economic Integration Agreement, and urged private groups to help lay the groundwork for such a free-trade deal. He also expressed optimism regarding a favorable conclusion of the US-Korea negotiations over a free-trade agreement, arguing that "both sides understand the symbolic as well as the practical benefits of what they are trying to accomplish."
The Philippines and Japan have agreed to settle all disputes domestically under the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement unless the Secretaries of Trade of both countries agree to bring the dispute to an international arbitration court.
Indonesia plans to exempt duty on several automotive parts imported from Japan to support local industries as both countries are moving closer to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), an official said Thursday.
Japan won support from Asean Wednesday for a study into a free trade area in East Asia covering 16 countries but the grouping wants Tokyo to prioritise clinching a trade pact with it beforehand.
Japan and the Philippines plan to conclude their bilateral free trade agreement in September and put it into effect by the end of 2007, it was learned Wednesday.
A plea from the Japan Business Federation for a Japan-India FTA, outlining what the corporations would like it to provide.
