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Political power plays cloud East Asian economic community vision
Japan plays a key role in promoting economic integration in Southeast Asia by helping to narrow the gap between developed and less developed countries in the region, scholars from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
For this goal, Japan should put greater emphasis on free trade negotiations with the ASEAN bloc as a whole, rather than seek bilateral agreements with individual members, they told the Dec. 2 Keizai Koho Center symposium.