"CEAC Commentary" introduces news analyses andopinions in Japan on topics related to regional
cooperation and integration in East Asia, but they do
not represent the views of CEAC as an institution.

December 19, 2011

Declare the Japan’s Vision on the Asia-PacificLiberalization
By YAMAZAWA Ippei
Japan's course for participating in negotiations on TPP was supposedly set by
Prime Minister Noda's decision and manifestation in Honolulu APEC. Criticized as"participation dragged by the U.S." in the discussion on the pros and cons ofparticipating in negotiations on TPP, PM Noda declared Japan's initiative in theAsia-Pacific liberalization during his return from Honolulu. Japan should clearly state
her strategy on how to bridge TPP, without China, and ASEAN+, without the U.S, athome and abroad. In my view, Japan should utilize APEC which includes both China
and the U.S. as a link between the two countries, for which Japan's past initiative until
Yokohama and Honolulu APEC will be of assistance.
The dynamics of competitive liberalization - formation of an FTA promotes
participation of other countries or solicits formation of more FTAs - are affecting themoves around TPP, ASEAN+, and Japan-China-Korea FTA. It seems that PM Noda
intends to carry them forward in parallel. The vision of Yokohama APEC positions thefirst two as a way to FTAAP. However, in the Asia-Pacific region, there is a difference
between the advanced economies and the developing economies intheir readiness forliberalizing trade and investment. Also, there is a confluence of interests to which eacheconomy adheres. Therefore, FTAAP can hardly be expected to be easily achieved.
Indispensable are efforts leading them to convergence with FTAAP. I would like topropose that APEC can be a convergent framework and that Japan should declare taking
a leadership role.
Yokohama APEC in 2010 published the interim assessment of achievements of
the Bogor Goals on individual liberalization and facilitation. It stated that the Bogor
Goals on liberalization and facilitation helped the APEC economies achieve highgrowths and lead the world economy for the past 15 years. It also pointed out thatbarriers still existed in six areas, namely, tariffs, nontariff barriers, service, investment,
intellectual property rights and government procurement, and that efforts to remove
those barriers must be continued over the coming 10 years, the remaining term of theBogor Goals. The opening part of the ministerial statement in Honolulu indicatedimplementation of "The New IAP Peer Review Process," which aimed at elimination of
the remaining barriers by all the 21 economies for 2020. Though APEC should maintainthe principle of voluntarism and flexibility, APEC must not only upgrade effectivenessof the Peer Review in order to remove the remaining barriers by 2020, but also address
domestic regulations behind the border measures in order to achieve the Bogor Goals.
For developing economies to achieve as well, indispensable is capacity building in eacharea, the technical cooperation projects for which APEC has implemented. In otherwords, APEC itself can be a foundation to achieve FTAAP. While TPP and ASEAN+
pull the Asia-Pacific from the top, APEC pushes it from the bottom.
Moreover, APEC, which includes the U.S. and China, is able to bridge TPP andASEAN+. Japan must make best use of her past initiatives in APEC, and play thecentral role in the promotion of the Asia-Pacific liberalization.
(This is the English translation of an article written by Dr. YAMAZAWA Ippei,Professor Emeritus of Hitotsubashi University, which originally appeared on theBBS "Hyakka-Somei" of CEAC on November 29, 2011.)