[asia-apec 1535] Fw: Trade agreements: Japan, S'pore closer to "new age' pact

[APEC Monitoring Group]

>Strait Times  30/8/00  Japan, S'pore closer to "new age' pact
>
>Progress in efforts to launch formal talks on
>free-trade pact that will cover IT cooperation
>and stock-market rules
>
>By KWAN WENG KIN
>JAPAN CORRESPONDENT
>
>TOKYO -- Singapore and Japan have moved another
>step closer to launching formal negotiations within
>the year on a wide-ranging, ""new-age'' Free Trade
>Agreement that would include close cooperation in
>IT, stock-market rules and other new areas.
>
>A Singapore-Japan joint study group, ending two
>days of talks here yesterday, reported ""substantial
>progress'' in their latest meeting to consider the
>feasibility of launching formal FTA negotiations.
>
>Officials would not comment on details of a draft
>report they were working on but press reports here,
>quoting undisclosed sources, said it would contain
>nearly 40 items.
>
>The reports said that the ""new-age'' FTA would go
>beyond the removal of tariff barriers for goods and
>services and was expected to include cooperation in
>electronic commerce, unification of stock-market
>rules and facilitating the movement of IT specialists
>and other skilled workers.
>
>Common rules for stock markets would enable the
>simultaneous listing of companies on the stock
>exchanges of both countries, making it a world's first,
>said the reports.
>
>By making capital procurement easier in both
>markets, it would also help to attract more
>investments to Singapore and Japan.
>
>The reports also said that though the
>Japan-Singapore FTA (JSFTA) was not expected to
>boost bilateral trade significantly, it would help to
>speed up structural reforms in both countries.
>
>A major hurdle was overcome by an earlier
>agreement by both sides to exclude agricultural
>products from the proposed agreement.
>
>A statement released after yesterday's meeting said
>there was ""broad consensus'' by participants on the
>scope and merits of a JSFTA.
>
>The meeting, the fourth since the group first met in
>March this year, was originally expected to draft a
>report to be submitted to the leaders of both
>countries when they meet at the Asean Plus Three
>meeting, which Singapore will host in November.
>
>The group is now due to hold a fifth and final meeting
>in Singapore on Sept 27-28 to finalise the draft.
>
>It is understood that the additional meeting is to give
>the Japanese side, which includes representatives
>from several key ministries, extra time for domestic
>consultations.
>
>The JSFTA was brought up by Foreign Affairs
>Minister S. Jayakumar last week in talks here with
>Japanese leaders.
>
>Once launched, the JSFTA negotiations are expected
>to be completed as early as end-2001, making the
>resulting FTA the first that Japan is likely to conclude
>with any country.
>
>Singapore, however, recently signed an FTA with
>New Zealand.
>
>Japanese business circles have been putting
>increasing pressure on their government to forge
>bilateral and regional FTAs, a concept that Japan
>once ignored as it preferred the multilateral trade
>framework under the World Trade Organisation.
>
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