June 19, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 03, 1428

TOKYO, June 18: Japan and Brunei on Monday signed a bilateral free trade agreement as Tokyo seeks stable energy supplies from the oil-and gas-rich country. The agreement will lower trade barriers, enhance economic cooperation between the two countries and boost Japanese investment in Brunei.

“The economic agreement we just signed will raise the stable and friendly Japan-Brunei relationship to a higher level,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the joint press conference with visiting Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

“I'm glad we were able to sign the deal only one year after we started the negotiations,” he added.

Japan is Brunei's biggest export destination, shipping some 270 billion yen ($2.2 billion) in 2006, mainly oil and natural gas, while Japan exported machinery and other goods worth 12 billion yen to Brunei.

“My government and people are delighted that it has now been completed and signed,” the Sultan said. “The strong economic ties between our countries have been built on your investment and our supplies of oil and gas.” Japan has been increasingly pursuing free trade pacts to secure access to raw materials and markets for its exports amid the collapse of global trade talks.

Japan's first free trade agreement, with Singapore, took effect in late 2002 and Japan has since agreed to deals with Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand.

However, the agreements with Manila and Bangkok have met political opposition by environmentalists in the Southeast Asian countries.

Japan is in ongoing negotiations with South Korea, Indonesia and with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as a whole.

—AFP