ISDS Case Map
Japan
Japan and Thailand are expected to reach basic agreement as early as next week on agricultural, forestry and fishery products, moving closer to the conclusion of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
John Howard will ask Japan to support an official feasibility study as the first substantial step towards a bilateral free trade agreement when he visits Tokyo next month.
When are a few sea-swept, uninhabited rocky islets more than a bunch of rocks? When they involve lucrative fisheries and emotional issues that hark back to the days of the Japanese Empire.
The public, along with NGOs, academics and business groups -- both pro- and anti-free trade -- should be well-informed about the development of the Indonesia-Japan EPA.
Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Juan B. Santos said there is no rush in the proposed bilateral free-trade agreement with the US noting the country's trade with the US is slowly losing steam while gaining markets elsewhere particularly, ASEAN, Japan and Greater China.
Japan plans to expand trade in Southeast Asia through a network of bilateral free trade pacts - from Thailand and Malaysia to Indonesia and the Philippines, a senior Japanese trade official said.
A joint study group, consisting of members from China, Japan and South Korea, issued a report recently on possible trilateral investment arrangements between the three countries, which recommended that a legal framework concerning investment among the three countries should be explored in the near future. Such an investment arrangement, if well operated, would give a fresh boost to the start of FTA negotiations.
More Japanese investments and trade opportunities are expected to pour into the Philippines following a recent visit from one of Japan's biggest trade groups - the Kansai Economic Federation (Kankeiren) - and the forthcoming realization of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.
The bilateral negotiations have made little progress as South Korea has criticized Japanese-planned liberalization of farm product imports as being far from sufficient.
An FTA with Switzerland, to be reached by April, would allow Japan to strengthen its position to fight back pressure to open up its agricultural market.
