Japan should join TPP to boost reconstruction
The Yomiuri Shimbun | May. 16, 2011
Japan should join TPP to boost reconstruction
Realizing economic growth by expanding free trade is not only crucial for the nation’s future but is also indispensable for reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The government should promptly decide to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which is currently being negotiated among nine countries, including the United States and Australia.
The guidelines that the government will soon finalize for the country’s economic policy after the March 11 disaster are expected to use such vague expressions as "the government will comprehensively discuss the timing of participation in the [TPP] negotiations."
Before the March 11 disaster, Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged to the international community that Japan would decide on whether to participate in the TPP around June, touting the "opening up of the nation in the Heisei era." However, by adopting such language in its guidelines, the government is apparently just putting off its decision on the TPP.
Don’t block development
Won’t this delay nip the growth of the Japanese economy in the bud? The government should resume its study on participation in the TPP, which has been suspended due to the disaster, and speedily establish a nationwide consensus on the matter.
The nine countries are accelerating the TPP negotiations on such issues as eliminating tariffs, seeking to reach a broad agreement around November.
June is the absolute limit for announcing Japan’s participation in the TPP. If the decision is delayed, Japan will be unable to join in the negotiations and could be forced to accept unfavorable trade and investment rules in the future.
Some people in the government apparently think they are too busy now for anything like the TPP and seem to be defensive regarding free trade, but the importance of the TPP remains unchanged even after the March 11 disaster. For Japan—which has a declining birthrate and a graying population—to continue to grow, it is important to benefit from the vitality of other Asian countries through the promotion of free trade.
Japan should map out measures to revitalize the economy that would give a boost to post-disaster reconstruction as well as prepare the nation for trade liberalization. Participation in the TPP should be their foundation.
Make Tohoku region model
The disaster-hit Tohoku region is a prosperous agricultural area. We suggest the government implement bold agricultural reforms, using the region as a model.
Productivity would be substantially improved if agriculture became more large-scale by consolidating farmland into core farms. It is also necessary to ease regulations to encourage companies to enter the agricultural business as well as to implement measures to attract young people into the agricultural industry to replace aging farmers.
The government should make the country’s agriculture strong enough to endure trade liberalization by expanding such efforts to other parts of the country.
The TPP is also crucially important to increase exports of industrial products and prevent domestic industries from hollowing out.
In addition to the negative impact of the March 11 disaster, industrial circles also are facing a rising yen and power shortages. A senior official of Toyota Motor Corp. suggested that the company may have to scale down its domestic production, saying the current situation "is beyond the limit of one company’s efforts."
We must strengthen the country’s competitiveness by utilizing the TPP to prevent
manufacturing in Japan from being put at a disadvantage.
