Prime Minister Naoto Kan, center, announcing “the Yokohama Vision- Bogor and Beyond” at the 18th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (November 12, Yokohama, Japan)
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Economic Diplomacy |
While the global economy is on a gradual recovery path, downside risks still remain. Responding to concerns about sovereign risk during the first half of 2010, leaders at the G20 Toronto Summit in June confirmed the importance of pursuing both fiscal sustainability and growth, and advanced economies committed to fiscal plans to this end. Amid uneven growth and continued imbalances in the global economy, leaders at the G20 Seoul Summit agreed to strengthen policy coordination toward sustainable growth in November. Japan contributed to strengthening cooperation between advanced and emerging economies to overcome the financial and economic crisis.
Japan served as the chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2010. The 18th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting held in Yokohama in November adopted “The Yokohama Vision – Bogor and Beyond” as the APEC Leaders’ Declaration. Japan also implemented specific forms of cooperation in collaboration with the United States, which is the 2011 APEC chair.
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Prime Minister Naoto Kan, center, announcing “the Yokohama Vision- Bogor and Beyond” at the 18th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (November 12, Yokohama, Japan) |
Japan needs to actively advance economic diplomacy to strengthen its economy as the economic conditions inside and outside the country become increasingly severe, with a more fluid international situation, declining population, aging society with a low fertility rate, and large fiscal deficit. Specifically, Japan will actively advance efforts in the fields of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), natural resources, energy and food, international promotion of infrastructure systems, and inbound tourism and Japan Brand. In December, an Economic Diplomacy Promotion Headquarters was established inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Foreign Minister Maehara as its head, for the overall management of the progress of such economic diplomacy in each field, and for specific discussions toward further progress.
The Japanese Cabinet approved a “Basic Policy on Comprehensive Economic Partnerships” in November 2010. This policy states that Japan is absolutely resolved to “open up the country” and “pioneer a new future,” and will take major steps forward from its present posture and promote high-level economic partnerships with the world’s major trading powers comparable to the global trend of similar relationships. At the same time, Japan will first press ahead with fundamental domestic reforms to strengthen competitiveness, as required for high-level economic partnerships.
Concerning EPA negotiations with various countries, Japan declared the completion of EPA negotiations with India in October and Peru in November, with the leaders of these countries respectively. Japan also worked to achieve steady progress in ongoing EPA negotiations with Australia and other countries. In working toward the resumption of EPA negotiations with the Republic of Korea (ROK), high-level prior consultations were held for resuming negotiations following the bilateral summit meeting in May. With regard to the European Union (EU), the joint High-Level Group, established by the April 2010 Japan-EU summit, conducted a joint examination and worked toward the early launching of EPA negotiations. Also in 2010, the governments of Japan and Mongolia started joint public-private study on a bilateral EPA, while the governments of Japan, China, and the ROK initiated joint study for an FTA among those three countries by government officials, business and academic participants.
In relation to regional economic partnerships, Japan continued to contribute positively to discussions on East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA). In the November 2010 APEC Leaders’ Declaration, the APEC leaders agreed to take concrete measures toward the realization of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). Concerning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, Japan has begun gathering information and having consultations, based on the Basic Policy on Comprehensive Economic Partnerships that states that “it is necessary to act through gathering further information, and Japan, while moving expeditiously to improve domestic environment, will commence consultations with the TPP member countries.”
Japan relies on imports for much of the energy, minerals, food, and other resources that form the basis of the livelihood of the Japanese people, thus securing the stable supply of these resources is one of the main pillars toward Japan’s economic diplomacy. Japan must advance international cooperation of the world’s responsible development and use of resources amid such new developments as the rise of emerging economies and efforts to adapt climate change, while also securing the stable long-term supply of resources to Japan. From this perspective, Japan positively participates in the administration of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and other international organs. Japan is also promoting “Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI)” as the original initiative and taking a leading role on setting out the principles to realize the RAI. Concerning mineral resources, Japan is making positive contributions to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in addition to strengthening joint public-private efforts to secure the stable supply of natural resources and energy to Japan.
Furthermore, marine resources are a precious source of nutrition for the Japanese people. From the standpoint of utilizing the sustainable use of these resources, Japan has actively contributed toward the complete and effective implementation of conservation and management measures such as by establishing a global system for conservation and management of fishery resources and eliminating illegal vessels. Given the heightened concern for environmental protection in recent years , Japan has played a positive role as a responsible fishing country toward securing the sustainable use of marine resources in such fora as the regional fisheries management organizations making use of its experience and technology in the fishery sector, based on frameworks of international organizations and cooperative relationship with other countries.
Amid the growing demand for infrastructure in Asia and throughout the world, the government must strongly support efforts of the private sector to promote Japanese companies’ advanced technologies overseas in the areas such as the environment and energy efficiency in close public-private collaboration to realize Japan’s economic growth. In this light, the government as a whole is working together to achieve such goals based on the New Growth Strategy approved by the Cabinet in June 2010. In line with these developments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is strengthening the functions of its diplomatic establishments by taking measures such as appointing specialists in infrastructure systems at Japanese embassies and consulates in selected countries, and improving the structure for supporting private enterprises’ efforts.
The Ministry is also actively implementing positive measures for inbound tourism, including public relations and cultural activities at overseas diplomatic establishments, to increase the number of foreign visitors to Japan to strengthen the Japanese economy.
Japan also aims to appeal its attractiveness to the world as the “Japan Brand (Attractive Japan)”, represented in its human resources, technology and culture.
Advancing the liberalization of trade and investment is essential for the sustainable growth of the Japanese and the global economy. With regard to international trade, along with deterring protectionism, upholding and strengthening the World Trade Organization (WTO) system, which brings legal stability and predictability to international trade, remains an important issue. Specifically, an early conclusion of the WTO Doha round negotiations is important for the continued expansion of global trade, and Japan has been playing an active role to this end. At the November 2010 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and Ministerial Meeting, the leaders and ministers shared the recognition on the necessity to accelerate the WTO negotiations, viewing 2011 as an important “window of opportunity” for agreement conclusion of the negotiations. In resisting protectionism, global leaders and ministers agreed to re-extend their commitment on standstill including to refrain from imposing new export restriction until the end of 2013 at a series of meetings including the G20 summit in Toronto and Seoul and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and Ministerial Meeting.
Japan is pursuing wide-ranging bilateral and multilateral efforts to protect intellectual property rights because counterfeit and pirated goods are spreading worldwide and posing a threat to the sustainable growth of the global economy. Japan has actively advanced the negotiations of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is a multilateral approach. A general consensus was reached at the October 2010 Tokyo negotiations, and the parties subsequently concluded an agreement.
Investment agreement is another type of legal frameworks that uphold economic diplomacy. Social security agreements aim at resolving such problems of duplicate social insurance contributions of two countries and of lapsed contributions. Concluding economic treaties and agreements and preparing legal and institutional foundations are important from the perspective of supporting the activities of Japanese enterprises advancing overseas.
