Japan passes bill to ratify regional free trade association agreement
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Tokyo, Feb 24 (efe-epa).- Japan approved a legislative project Wednesday to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Association, the largest free trade agreement in the world, and called it “the foundation for trade in Asia.”
The measure represents a further step toward the implementation of the pact closed in November at a 15-country virtual summit in Asia-Pacific, composed of Japan – the world’s third-largest economy – and China, the second.
The pact must be endorsed by Japan’s parliament, expected to happen “at an early date” before the end of the current parliamentary session in June, Trade Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said at a Wednesday press conference.