New Zealand Associate Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton has cautiously welcomed a recent proposal by Japan to create a 16-nation free-trade zone in Asia-Oceania, saying further research is needed to examine its feasibility.
Sutton said in a recent interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo that New Zealand "very much welcomes" the suggestion by Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai for a regionwide FTA, even though it requires "a lot of research, examination and discussions to see whether it is feasible."
Nikai proposed earlier this month that Japan should ask the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, to consider launching regional FTA talks in 2008. Those 15 nations and Japan comprise the East Asian Summit, inaugurated in December in Kuala Lumpur for eventual creation of a regional community.