http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/GE17Dh01.html May 17, 2005
Japan, Malaysia expected to sign FTA soon TOKYO - Japan and Malaysia are expected to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) by the end of May now that both sides are ready to make concessions on the liberalization of trade in automobiles and other manufactured goods, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned on Sunday. A tentative agreement is seen at a vice ministerial meeting set to start in Malaysia on Tuesday, and the Japanese government hopes that the accord will be formally sealed when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meets with his Malaysian counterpart, Abdullah Badawi, in Tokyo on May 25. Japan has already signed bilateral FTAs with Singapore, Mexico and the Philippines. An FTA with Malaysia is expected to lift Japanese real gross domestic product by 0.06%, according to a Cabinet Office estimate. Negotiations over trade in farm and marine products have already been settled, leaving talks on autos and steel products to continue. In a gesture to move the negotiations forward, Malaysia has signaled that it is ready to cut the 50% tariff rate on imports of full-sized cars from Japan or phase the duties out, according to Japanese sources close to the talks. Malaysia has been manufacturing subcompacts, but not larger sized cars. Japan, for its part, will express its intention to expand technical cooperation with Malaysian auto parts makers and help them train their engineers in line with Malaysia's request, the sources said. Tokyo wants to expand the scope of automobiles and auto parts whose tariffs will be reduced or abolished altogether. A trade liberalization accord is expected to increase Japan's exports of auto parts to Malaysia, where Toyota Motor Corp and other auto makers have operations. Negotiations on the trade of steel products as well as the investment and service sectors have yet to be concluded. (Asia Pulse/Nikkei) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/pkgkPB/SOnJAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
