Japan has resumed talks to reach a free trade deal with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) after an eight-month stalemate.
Japan will also hold bilateral talks during the three-day meeting with Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, Asean’s least developed States, in hopes of finding ways for Tokyo to help bridge the income gap in the regional bloc.
Asean and Japan opened negotiations in April 2005 which came to a halt after a second round in August. Japan is now looking only to secure a free-trade deal and not a more comprehensive accord that would include measures to settle trade disputes and protect intellectual property, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
But the foreign ministry said Japan still aimed to seal a comprehensive agreement with Asean. Japan has focused diplomatic efforts on Southeast Asia at a time that its relations with closer neighbours China and South Korea are strained, largely over wartime history.
Japan last week proposed the formation of a vast Asian economic free-trade zone including China, India, Asean and South Korea, a market that would cover half the population and rival the European Union and Nafta markets.
Japan has signed free trade pacts with Singapore and Mexico and reached similar broad agreements with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
It is also negotiating with South Korea, Indonesia, Chile and plans to open talks this summer with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of six Arab monarchies.
Japan is considering free-trade talks with Australia, India, Switzerland, Vietnam and South Africa.
Japan will also hold bilateral talks during the three-day meeting with Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, Asean’s least developed States, in hopes of finding ways for Tokyo to help bridge the income gap in the regional bloc.
Asean and Japan opened negotiations in April 2005 which came to a halt after a second round in August. Japan is now looking only to secure a free-trade deal and not a more comprehensive accord that would include measures to settle trade disputes and protect intellectual property, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
But the foreign ministry said Japan still aimed to seal a comprehensive agreement with Asean. Japan has focused diplomatic efforts on Southeast Asia at a time that its relations with closer neighbours China and South Korea are strained, largely over wartime history.
Japan last week proposed the formation of a vast Asian economic free-trade zone including China, India, Asean and South Korea, a market that would cover half the population and rival the European Union and Nafta markets.
Japan has signed free trade pacts with Singapore and Mexico and reached similar broad agreements with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
It is also negotiating with South Korea, Indonesia, Chile and plans to open talks this summer with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of six Arab monarchies.
Japan is considering free-trade talks with Australia, India, Switzerland, Vietnam and South Africa.