Asia and Japan: Trading into the future

Asia and Japan are in the midst of the most ambitious trade negotiations in recent history, including those for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), and the China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CJK FTA). These agreements will profoundly impact the economies of Asia as they will allow for a freer exchange of goods and services, thereby boosting the region's competitiveness and economic growth. However, the conclusion of the negotiations of these trade deals is not yet in sight. Although all parties agree that deeper regional integration is essential, the commitments by each country are still under discussion.

At the same time, trade liberalization efforts at the multilateral level have been revived recently. Several Asian WTO members were instrumental in forging an agreement at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in December 2013. The Doha Development Round negotiations thereby have received an important push, and 2014 is expected to be a key year to advance the multilateral trade talks.

The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) will co-host a panel discussion, chaired by Naoyuki Yoshino, Dean, ADBI, comprised of leading trade experts to analyze the latest developments in trade negotiations as well as provide an overview of the latest economic research on the topic. The panel discussion and a Q&A session will follow the short presentations given by the panelists.