EoW May 2012

Transatlantic cable

The ‘historic opportunity’ of a pact with Japan would open up Canada to the world’s third-largest economy

Canada is in a strong scal position and has probably the world’s soundest banking system, and Japan has expressed an interest in increasing its Canadian investments. † But the Japanese prime minister also made it plain at a joint media conference in Tokyo that he sees Japan’s cooperation with Canada in a context of regional relations with the new regime in Pyongyang. Mr Noda said that the partners would pursue enhanced defence and security cooperation, including the establishment of a small supply base in Japan that the Canadian military could use in emergencies. Ron MacIntosh, a research associate at China Institute and former trade negotiator who served in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, told Mr Brewster that Canadians must remind themselves that free trade in Mr Noda’s part of the world is about more than lowering tari s and o setting subsidies. The Harper government, Mr MacIntosh advised Canadian Press, could expect to endure a learning curve “in Asian realities.”

When, in Tokyo on 25 th March, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan announced that the two countries had entered negotiations for a free-trade agreement, the two leaders pledged that their partnership would bring a bonanza of economic opportunity. “The potential for increased trade between us that will create jobs and growth and long-term prosperity is really enormous,” Mr Harper said. Mr Noda, while no less bullish about the outlook for economic cooperation, framed the Canadian-Japanese partnership in somewhat di erent terms. He said: “We rea rmed the importance to tackle outstanding global issues, particularly the issues surrounding North Korea and others in the Asia-Paci c region.” To Murray Brewster of Canadian Press, the national news agency headquartered in Toronto, the distinction in emphasis suggested a need for the Canadian side to look sharp. He wrote: “Trade experts say Canada will have to up its game because the Japanese are tough, skilled negotiators – probably the most formidable the Harper government has faced” since it launched an ambitious series of bilateral negotiations. (“Canada, Japan Agree to Enter Negotiations for Free-Trade Deal,” 25 th March). Mr Harper stressed the signi cance to the Canadian economy as a whole of the two-thirds increase in exports to Japan that could eventuate from a trade pact. If an accord is reached it would be Japan’s rst with a country from the Group of Eight major economies, moreover one that makes an attractive partner.

Automotive

‘Cars are, to put it simply, a great untapped opportunity for the telecommunications industry’

The speaker – Bill Ford – was not misquoted. In February, in Barcelona, Spain, the executive chairman of the car company founded by his great-grandfather Henry Ford addressed the

21

EuroWire – May 2012