'Joining TPP will not impact Far East FTA'

Japans participation in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP) negotiations will not impact ongoing talks on a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China and Korea, said chief of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), a Seoul-based body that oversees cooperation between the three Northeast Asian nations.

TPP and a China-Japan-Korea (CJK) FTA are not something that countries should choose either-or.

Both contribute to the national interest and the world economy, said Shigeo Iwatani, newly-appointed TCS secretary-general from Japan, during an interview with The Korea Times, Thursday.

Japan entering the talks for TPP will not have negative influences on the ongoing CJK FTA negotiations.

Japan officially announced its participation in the TPP negotiations in March as the 12th member, while engaging in the trilateral FTA talks that began on November 2012.

The move drew criticism especially from Beijing because Japan is regarded as having joined hands with the U.S. to contain Chinas rise. With Japans entry, the TPP nations now account for nearly 40 percent of global GDP and over one-fourth of world trade.

The region-wide FTA is understood as an economic version of Washingtons strategy of pivot to Asia that aims to achieve a high-level of trade liberalization and transparency on state-owned enterprises which China is reluctant to accept if the policies become a new global norm.

Prompted by its ally U.S., Seoul is also reportedly mulling joining the TPP talks, notwithstanding relatively low economic gains.

Korea has already signed FTA deals with U.S. and six other TPP countries and is currently attempting to sign one with Japan at the CJK FTA negotiation.

Also, among TPP countries, the U.S. and Japan account for 39 and 21 percent of South Koreas export, according to data released by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.

It makes the U.S.-led FTA less attractive compared to CJK FTA that includes its biggest trading partner China. Korea has yet to sign a free trade deal with the world's most populous country.

By mediating their trade policies in the process of signing the CJK FTA, the three countries would have more merit in the discussions for broader multilateral FTAs such as the TPP, said Iwatani.

Experts say launching the CJK FTA at an early stage would help East Asia take the drivers seat in establishing standards for region-wide FTAs such as TTP and the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

We strongly want to promote to the people of Korea, Japan and China and other concerned nations how beneficial it would be when the trilateral FTA is launched, he said, adding that strengthening their economic ties would also lay the foundation for deepening trilateral cooperation in other areas including diplomacy.

In June, the TCS successfully hosted the CJK FTA Seminar in Weihai, China, where over 100 government officials, scholars and business representatives participated and explored the significance of the trilateral FTA.

We wish to host those seminars in a regular basis, Iwatani said.

The three-nation organization was launched in 2011 in a bid to promote closer cooperation among them.

The Japanese career diplomat replaced South Koreas Shin Bong-kil, former ambassador to Jordan, starting this month finishing his two-year term as the inaugural secretary- general of the TCS.

Iwatani, 63, formerly served as ambassador to Austria and Kenya.

Source: Korea Times