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Tuesday November 15, 9:22 PMAsia: Japan, Vietnam agree to set up FTA study forum(Kyodo) _ Japan and Vietnam agreed Tuesday to set up a study forum to explore potential merits and demerits of a bilateral free trade agreement and transfer Tokyo's know-how on FTA negotiations to Hanoi, Japan's trade minister said.Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai said after meeting with Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Busan, South Korea, that Japan will dispatch high-level FTA experts to Vietnam and that the two governments will freely discuss the possibility of concluding such an accord. "We should provide Vietnam with support on human resources in this area because Vietnam also aims to join the World Trade Organization," Nikai told reporters. A Japanese trade ministry official said the forum, which will be launched around the year-end or early next year, will be different from FTA joint study groups that are usually established as precursors to official FTA negotiations. Vietnam has never been engaged in individual FTA talks with any economies and trade officials of the country, who are busy with preparations for accession to the WTO, are not well-versed in bilateral FTA negotiations, the official indicated. During the meeting, Tuyen said Vietnam eventually hopes to sign an FTA with Japan, but that it is a distant goal due to lack of human resources and know-how. Nikai then proposed Japan's support in the area, according to the official. Vietnam is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has been in formal FTA talks with Japan since April. The 10-member regional body and Japan aim to complete their FTA negotiations by 2007. Tuyen and Nikai also agreed that economic ministers of Japan and ASEAN will discuss ways to advance their FTA talks in December in Kuala Lumpur, the official said. |
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