The ASEAN countries have achieved rapid industrialisation especially since the mid-1980s. In this process, foreign direct investment (FDI) has played a substantial role. Among foreign investors, Japanese manufacturers are active in the electronics and automobile sectors, forging production...

For a long time, the Japanese government showed awkward and indecisive attitudes towards trade policy. There was strong opposition from the two political actors - bureaucrats at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party...