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Australian and Japanese officials will meet in Canberra Monday for the first round of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement.

A senior Australian trade official Friday said on the government condition of anonymity that the two days of talks would focus on setting a framework for future negotiations.

[…] A joint feasibility study commissioned in April 2005, found a comprehensive agreement could boost Australia’s gross domestic product by 39 billion Australian dollars (US$33 billion) and Japan’s by A$27 billion (US$23 billion) over a 20-year period.
[…] Australia has FTAs in place with the United States, Singapore, Thailand and New Zealand and is in negotiations on an agreement with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Chile, China and Malaysia.
Japan has signed FTAs with Mexico, Malaysia and Singapore and is in talks with several other nations on similar agreements.
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Japan and Thailand signed a free-trade deal Tuesday that will eliminate tariffs on more than 90 percent of bilateral trade by value in 10 years from its enforcement.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet gave the go-ahead to sign the agreement with his army-installed counterpart Surayud Chulanont later Tuesday.

Surayud’s government approved the deal last week, hoping that the pact with Thailand’s largest investor will ease worries in the business community about protectionist policies since the military takeover. […]
Japan has historic political and economic ties with Thailand, with many Japanese firms using Bangkok as a regional hub.
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Thailand’s cabinet has given its nod for a free trade pact with Japan which large Thai industries expect will help boost exports by 30 percent. […]

The spokesman also rejected rumors that the agreement is a trade off for easier access to Japanese government loans for three planned sky train extensions in Bangkok’s urban areas, the report said.

[…] Thai industries officials said benefits from the agreement will include an anticipated 20 percent increase in exports of frozen seafood, while shoe exporters, who are yet to gain a foothold in the Japanese market, will benefit from import duty cuts of 20 percent annually for five years after which there will be no duty.
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