|
On October 14, the first general assembly of the DPJ economic partnership project team (PT) established to consider the way in which Japan should proceed with regard to furthering economic partnerships with Asian-Pacific nations.
The PT Chair Yoshio Hachiro, addressed around 50 Diet members who had assembled for the meeting, saying “There are various issues relating to economic partnerships, but it is generally noted that in particular working toward regional partnership in the Asian-Pacific will be a positive factor for Japan’s free trade. Yesterday, the FTA between the Republic of Korea and the United States was approved by the US Congress. I believe that if Japan takes a leadership role in creating rules for the Asian-Pacific region, this will bring huge benefits overall. With regard to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), which is an issue that we have been debating since last year, I would appreciate it if as the ruling party we could engage in positive and sustained discussions, starting from today, and reach a degree of consensus.”
General assemblies of the PT will be convened on a regular basis, to hear from the administration an explanation regarding the state of negotiations regarding the TPP which are currently being undertaken by various concerned nations, and of the content of the negotiations in each of the 21 related sectors, and to engage in debate. The leadership line-up of the PT is as follows:
Senior advisors: Yoshito Sengoku, Hirohisa Fujii, Katsuya Okada, Masayuki Naoshima, Masahiko Yamada
Chair: Yoshio Hachiro
Vice Chairs: Makiko Kikuta, Yoshikatsu Nakayama, Tsutomu Okubo, Akira Nagatsuma, Chiaki Takahashi, Takahiro Sasaki
Secretary General: Shuji Kira
Vice Secretary General: Kenzo Fujisue
Secretaries: Koichi Takemasa, Yosuke Kondo, Nobuyuki Fukushima, Rintaro Ogata, Motohiro Ono (confirmed to date)
|
