Vaile Wins Study of Japan Trade Deal Proposal 

Senior Australian officials will meet with their Japanese counterparts in coming weeks to review two recent reports on bilateral relations, including a proposal for a Trade and Investment Facilitation Agreement (TIFA) with Australia, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said today.

Japan is already Australia's largest trading partner and the proposed TIFA could secure a bigger share of the lucrative market for Australian business.

Mr Vaile won Japanese agreement to the move during a two-day visit to Tokyo in which he met with his counterpart, the Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Takeo Hiranuma, Agriculture Minister Tsutomu Takebe and other key members of the new Koizumi Government. 

Mr Vaile used the visit to follow up on the recommendations of the recently released Strengthening Economic Relations (SER) reports and the Australia-Japan Conference held in Sydney in April.

"A TIFA between Australia and Japan would be consistent with Japan's trade policy that recognises the benefits of closer economic partnerships with regional countries.  For Australia, the TIFA is a logical next step - it would update the bilateral trade framework in line with current commercial practices, making it easier for Australia and Japan to do business, including in new sectors," Mr Vaile said. 

"I invited my counterpart to visit Australia and praised the ongoing cooperation between Australia and Japan in the WTO and APEC to achieve greater trade and investment liberalisation. 

"My Japanese counterpart and I agreed on the importance of launching a new WTO round and progressing this at the Doha WTO Ministerial meeting."

In his talks, Mr Vaile encouraged a more open and competitive agricultural market in Japan that would benefit both Japan and Australia, and encouraged

Agriculture Minister Takebe to continue liberalisation of its rice market. 

During his visit Mr Vaile participated in a promotion of the $A1.5 billion Aussie Beef export market at a Japanese supermarket.  He also met with representatives of Australian financial service's firm, AMP and its Japanese partner, NEC, to welcome the recent announcement of its $200 million investment in the Japanese market.

Contact:
James Baker (Ministerial) 02 6277 7420
Nicole Guihot (Departmental) 02 6261 1555