Japan and Britain agreed at a meeting of their trade chiefs Monday in Tokyo to push for a conclusion of the stalled Doha Round of global trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization.
In his meeting with trade minister Masayuki Naoshima, British business secretary Peter Mandelson said the countries should strive to reach a free-trade accord between Japan and the EU.
In his morning meeting with Naoshima, Mandelson, a former EU trade commissioner, stressed the need for collaboration in international trade as WTO members aim to wrap up the Doha talks next year. The trade round was launched in 2001 and originally scheduled to be concluded in 2005.
Mandelson praised Tokyo's recent pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.
Later in the day, Mandelson held separate meetings with senior officials of Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
In his meeting with Nissan Senior Vice President Andy Palmer, Mandelson expressed hope that Nissan will take a step further toward manufacturing electric vehicles in Britain.
"I am . . . excited that we are going to see battery production in Britain (for electric vehicles) and I'm very hopeful that it will be followed up by the full car production," Mandelson said afterward.
In his meeting with Katsuaki Watanabe, vice chairman of Toyota Motor Corp., Mandelson tried out a plug-in prototype of the Prius hybrid.