Trans-Pacific FTA negotiating countries want Japan in by Nov. 2011+

YOKOHAMA, Nov. 14 Kyodo -
Leaders from nine countries involved in negotiations for an expanded
trans-Pacific free trade pact on Sunday urged Japan to join the negotiations by
the time the next summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum is held
in November next year.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating countries' leaders -- the United
States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Chile, Brunei, Peru, Vietnam and
Malaysia -- held their first ever summit on the sidelines of the APEC
ministerial and summit meetings in Yokohama.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan was also invited to attend in his capacity as
the host of this year's APEC and was present at the meeting even though Japan
is not yet a member and had only recently expressed some interest.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister
Muhyiddin Yassin said at separate press conferences after the TPP meeting that
the leaders hoped that Japan would be able to join the TPP negotiations by the
time the next APEC leaders summit is held in Hawaii in November next year.
''The TPP members were of the view that it would be good if Japan could make a
decision soon to join the TPP even though they understand that there are many
domestic issues that Japan has to manage within the country. They hope that
Japan can make a decision before the APEC summit next year,'' Muhyiddin said at
a news conference.
The Chilean leader also expressed hope that Canada will also be able to join.
Malaysia, which joined the TPP negotiations in November this year, was formally
welcomed at the summit.
Meanwhile, a White House press statement on the TPP summit said the TPP leaders
reiterated ''their goal of expanding the initial group of countries out in
stages to other countries across the region.''
They also ''expressed gratification at the interest of other Asia-Pacific
countries in joining the agreement and directed that talks proceed as soon as
possible with these countries, which could lay the groundwork for their future
participation.''
The TPP leaders also ''welcomed the solid progress their teams had made so far
in trade talks aimed at negotiating a regional trade deal and resolved to seek
to conclude the ambitious agreement as swiftly as possible.''
''They reaffirmed their objective of negotiating a high standard agreement and
one that addresses new and emerging trade issues and the 21st century
challenges their businesses and workers face.''
The TPP, which was created in 2006 by New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and Chile,
has recently attracted the attention of the world's biggest economies such as
the United States, which joined the TPP negotiations in 2008, Japan, which
recently announced it would begin consultations to know more about the TPP, and
even China, which is said to be showing some interest though not directly.
==Kyodo
2010-11-14 21:44:40