Japan's Amari to Visit Indonesia Fri. for Final Push over TPP

Tokyo, April 18 (Jiji Press)--Akira Amari, Japan's minister for issues related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade framework, said Thursday that he plans to visit Indonesia as early as Friday to hold last-minute consultations with officials from nations concerned to give a final push for Tokyo's entry to TPP negotiations.
   Meanwhile, the United States, one of the 11 nations currently in the TPP negotiations, is in the final stage of work to help Japan obtain consent from other countries to its entry to the negotiations, a Japanese government source said.
   The U.S. government, which has already given its nod to Japan's entry, is poised to notify Congress of Tokyo's participation soon after gaining approval from the 10 other negotiating countries, so that the Asian nation can join the TPP talks starting with a meeting that may be held in July.
   Ministers from the 11 countries are expected to hold a meeting in Indonesia as early as Friday to discuss Japan's bid to join the U.S.-led TPP negotiations. The meeting will take place on the fringe of a two-day meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the Southeast Asian nation through Friday.
   For its entry to the TPP negotiations, Japan needs to gain approval from all of the 11 countries.

(2013/04/18-14:12)

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