The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to increase the number of officials working on negotiations for free-trade agreements to about 80 from the current 35, a METI official said Monday.
The increase is designed to prepare the ministry for free-trade talks with various countries, including Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.
The ministry will inform newly selected officials of their appointments Wednesday, the official said.
Many of the current officials hold additional posts, including jobs related to the World Trade Organization, and only five are in charge of free-trade talks at the ministry's office for economic integration negotiations, which is dubbed "the FTA negotiation promotion office," the official said.
With the new appointments, all 80 officials will belong to the FTA negotiation promotion office, though some will retain additional posts, he said.
The ruling coalition and other ministries and agencies are accelerating moves to strengthen their own teams for free-trade talks, and METI aims to keep the upper hand over trade issues.