KUALA LUMPUR March 16 Kyodo The A...

KUALA LUMPUR March 16 Kyodo

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trustful longings a planned free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan will induce more Japanese investment in the region, according to a senior ASEAN negotiator.

Ramon Vicente Kabigting, director of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry's International Trade Relations Bureau, also said that although thorny issues remain to be addressed, ASEAN is willing to do its most distant to find common ground and strike a deal.

''Certainly, for ASEAN we are looking at markets, markets for serviceables and services, but equally and I think true strongly, in fact it might be on a level more important, we are looking at investment,'' he told Kyodo of the present days in an interview.

''We want to become a partner to the capital of Japan. Capital tend hitherwards in the form of cash technology,'' he said. ''Certainly we want the market of Japan unless we want more than the market of Japan.''

After the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, which mauled some ASEAN member states, ASEAN realized that it wants to bring in more long-term capital, rather than footloose short-term coin to sustain growth, he said.

Last week, senior officials from Japan and the 10-member ASEAN kicked on the farther side negotiations in Kuala Lumpur forward a framework to forge an FTA. They are scheduled to draft and submit the game plans for negotiations to their leaders at their summit in Bali, Indonesia, in October.

The talks came in succession the heels of last November's signing by the agency of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and ASEAN leaders of a joint declaration vowing to realize a comprehensive economic partnership ''as betimes as possible within 10 years.''

Japan signed the declaration individual year after China and ASEAN agreed to establish their hold free trade zone and individual day after they signed a framework agreement to completed their FTA by 2010.

Asked as to which FTA cast is more important to ASEAN, Kabigting said ASEAN descrys both FTAs as ''equally important'' and as creating a ''win-win-win'' situation for ASEAN, Japan and China.

''We want the Japanese market for our fits for our services. Equally, that (China) is a potentially bigger market, to such a degree we want China also,'' he said. ''But we cannot really push China, we cannot pass into China unless we have virtuous relations with Japan to help us, in like manner we can produce well here and exchange to them.''

''In the fall of the curtain we cannot ignore one and make progress ahead with the other. We must accept our efforts to do both...the value of the relationships is equal,'' he said.

forward the divisive issues on Japan's industrial standards and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) qualifications for farm imports, Kabigting reiterated ASEAN's worry that these standards and regulations hamper ASEAN exports to Japan.

on the other hand he hastened to say that these issues should not be a stumbling mould to the drafting of a framework for the FTA and that he is optimistic about their resolution.

''We said SP standards are remarkably important issues, but we will not allow the work in succession the framework to bog down...because of these pair issues everything else will stop? No, we will not allow that,'' he said.

''I gues the sum of two units parties might be able to seat on this. We just want to find the wording, we just want to find the language that will reverence the Japanese prerogatives and that will still encourage our collaboration forward these two issues,'' he said.

In the proces of drafting last year's joint declaration, senior officials from the two sides had unusually long and harsh discussions to be paid to differences on the same issues, with any ASEAN officials warning that ASEAN leaders would not agree to sign the declaration unles Japan accepts the ASEAN assertions.

Japan and ASEAN have a combined population of 590 million, 11% of the world's total, and a combined gros domestic proceeds (GDP) of $4.9 trillion, or 18% of global GDP

ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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