Sunday, 02/08/2020 09:42 (GMT+7)
The first protocol to amend the ASEAN-Japan Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) officially took into effect in Japan and the five ASEAN member states of Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam on August 1.
Illustrative image (Source: AFP/VNA)
Those countries had completed all necessary legal procedures for the entry into force of the document.
Vietnam ratified the first protocol on June 26, while Japan completed its legal procedures on June 16.
The protocol is expected to become effective in the five remaining ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, once they complete their legal procedures.
ASEAN members and Japan began talks on the AJCEP in 2005. The agreement took effect three years later, focusing on trade, while talks regarding investment and services were underway.
It was the first multilateral free trade agreement of Japan.
The First Protocol to Amend the Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership was signed by Japan on February 27, 2019, and by ASEAN members in March and April, 2019.
CPV/VNA