Japan, ASEAN agree to promote free trade pact

9:21 pm, April 08, 2017

Jiji Press

OSAKA (Jiji Press) — Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states agreed to work together to promote free trade at a meeting of their economic ministers in the western Japan city of Osaka on Saturday.

In a joint statement, participants said they will aim to create “high-quality” trade and investment rules in negotiations on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade pact among 16 Asia-Pacific countries.

High-quality rules will be pursued in areas including customs procedure facilitation and intellectual property right protection.

“We have made a good start toward the realization of a high-quality RCEP,” Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko, who cochaired the meeting, said after the meeting.

The meeting produced a positive message to promote global free trade, Seko stressed.

In the statement, adopted at the meeting, Japan and the ASEAN states reaffirmed that…

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Kort fakta om ASEAN (från Wikipedia):

Över 600 miljoner människor lever i ASEAN. Det är fler människor än i USA och fler människor inom EU inkl UK.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations, vanligtvis förkortat ASEAN, är en geopolitisk och ekonomisk organisation bestående av tio länder lokaliserade i Sydostasien. ASEAN bildades den 8 augusti 1967. Organisationen är öppen för alla länder i Sydostasien som skriver under på dess mål, principer och syften.