/Ulaanbaatar, 08.06.16/ Japan becomes the first free
trade partner of Mongolia following a series of multi-layered engagements since
the Economic Partnership Agreement between the two nations was sealed in
February, last year.
 |
| Seiji Kihara, State Minister for Foreign Affairs from Japan received award "Golden Polar" from Mongolian PM Saikhanbileg |
Yesterday,
a joint committee of government officials led by Seiji Kihara, State Minister
for Foreign Affairs from Japan and Purevsuren Lundeg, Minister of Foreign
Affairs in Mongolia, held its first meeting in Ulaanbaatar, where both parties
signed a meeting protocol and the last batch of legislative documents
comprehensibly enforcing the agreement.
Japan,
as a close ally and the fourth largest trading partner of Mongolia with nearly
JPY 32 billion in goods exchanged in 2015, will phase out import tariffs on
9,300 products, largely consisting of mineral and agricultural exports.
In return, Mongolian customs will remove tariffs on 5,700 imports from Japan.
The EPA will impose import tariff annulments on almost 95 per cent of the trade
turnover.
Mongolia
will inevitably benefit more from the East Asian economic integration as trade
flows with Japan become increasingly fluid, however the Mongolian government
expects the trade exchanges will also help to attract investments and introduce
high-tech know-hows. On a grander scheme, the agreement allows Mongolia to
connect with other export market through Japan, and expand a regional product
network and economic connectivity.
Recognising the new milestone
in the bilateral relations in trade, economy and business, Saikhanbileg Chimed,
the Prime Minister of Mongolia, highlighted that the establishment of EPA,
which came into a fruition with intense efforts from both sides over many
years, will open wide opportunities to Mongolian nationals and companies to
boost business with their Japanese counterparts. “Government entities of both
countries should now move swiftly to promote the EPA’s advantages, terms,
discounts and opportunities to businesses.” he said during his meeting with
Seiji Kihara, Minister for Foreign Affairs from Japan.
The
committee overlooking the effective implementation of the agreement will run 13
subcommittees responsible for promoting and intensifying economic partnership
through regular dialogues.
In 2015, Mongolia’s export to Japan reached 20.3 million USD in
value terms, while it imported 274.6 million USD worth goods from Japan,
according to government statistics.
The Prime Minister of
Mongolia, Saikhanbileg Chimed during
his meeting also underlined that Mongolia had managed to form a highly skilled
team of experts during the course of the EPA establishment and the government
had gained a huge experience in working out free trade agreement.
For successful leadership of
the Japanese working group for the EPA establishment, the Premier granted the
State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan the Polar Star Order by the
President’s decree.
The Prime Minister also
expressed his hopes that the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would take part
in the forthcoming 11th ASEM Summit to be held this July in Ulaanbaatar, and said
Mongolia is thankful to Japan for rendering support in the Summit’s
preparations.
0 comments:
Post a Comment