IBON to senators: Heed bad Asian experiences in Japan trade deals
GMA News (Manila)
IBON to senators: Heed bad Asian experiences in Japan trade deals
03/12/2008
MANILA, Philippines — As the Senate prepares to vote on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), a militant think tank urged senators to heed the bad experiences of Asian countries with Japan trade deals.
In a statement, IBON Foundation said other countries have ended up holding the short end of the stick after undertaking free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Japan, citing the experiences of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
"Senators studying JPEPA should consider the experience of other East Asian countries that have already undertaken free-trade pacts with Japan before deciding on an agreement that may condemn the Philippines to continued poverty and underdevelopment," IBON said.
The group noted that in Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the Japan-Malaysia Economic Partnership Agreement signed in 2005 was "not beneficial to Malaysia." In fact, "in June 2006 the Malaysian government announced that it would review the agreement," the group said.
Even business groups in Indonesia have said said that bringing Japanese investment and production materials to Indonesia under the Japan-Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement only meant that "Japan is maintaining its supporting industries back home while eating out of
the Indonesian market."
In Thailand, activists condemned the government for signing the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) in June 2007 without the approval of parliament. They said deal will have "an enormous impact on the country’s economic security" and will turn Thailand into a dumping ground for Japan’s electronic and hazardous waste.
It would, thus, be prudent to learn from these experiences before entering into a similar accord with Japan. "If the Philippines would be ’left out’ without a JPEPA ratification, it would only be left out of Japan’s plans to build an economic empire in Asia," IBON said.
According to IBON, Japan aims to consolidate and expand its region-wide production base, particularly in the electronics and automotive industries.
It said tariff cuts and liberal investment rules negotiated by Japan under free trade agreements with Asian countries make this fragmenting of production processes across the region easier, greatly benefiting Japanese corporations. - GMANews.TV
