KEY POINTS:
TOKYO - New Zealand Inc's campaign to forge a stronger economic partnership with Japan and avert a potential lockout from the proposed East Asia trade pact is well in swing.
Prime Minister Helen Clark pushed the case for closer economic ties with her Japanese counterpart Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo yesterday. Fukuda - as expected - has not promised to open negotiations anytime soon on a bilateral free trade deal with New Zealand.
But Clark's positioning of an FTA (Japan uses the term closer economic agreements to quell Japanese farmers' fears they will be swamped if barriers are reduced) as a mechanism for Japan to secure supplies of high quality food products in a time of rising world prices does resonate with Japanese power brokers.
The timing of Clark's visit - just weeks after the China FTA was signed at Beijing's Great Hall of the People and just one week after President Hu Jintao's first official visit to Tokyo - has given the New Zealand quest added profile.
It's predicted to be her last official overseas trip as Prime Minister ahead of the general election. Her seniority as a political leader within Asia - as well as the FTAs that her Government has secured - means she is listened to (carefully).
But the challenges that lie ahead will still be immense.
Australia's own negotiations on a bilateral FTA with Japan have not proved plain sailing.
New Zealand business leaders will today step up to the plate by exploring mechanisms to strengthen the relationship with top Japanese businesspeople, politicians and officials at the "New Thinking New Partnership" forum.
The symposium is not expected to confront head on the commercial risk to New Zealand if it becomes the only country within the East Asia Summit not to secure an FTA with Japan. There is also a risk that New Zealand - with Australia and India - will not be invited to join the proposed major Asian trading pact irrespective of Japan's initiatives to widen it to include the trio of nations.
What's more likely to be stressed is the upside for both countries if they combine to advance growth and create new business within the region.
The forum's importance was given added impetus when prominent Japanese businessman Yoshihiko Miyauchi agreed to act as co-chairman. Miyauchi - known as "Mr Deregulator" in Tokyo - heads the Asia Pacific committee of the powerful Nippon Keidanren, which is Japan's leading peak business organisation and has had the ear of successive Japanese governments.
Asia New Zealand chairman Philip Burdon is the co-chairman from the NZ side.
The forum has been promoted by the NZ International Business Forum, a group comprised of leaders of New Zealand's largest internationally oriented companies and peak business organisations.
NZBIF chairman Graeme Harrison - who also chairs Anzco Foods - confronted the claimed New Zealand threat to Japan's agriculture at celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of a treaty of commerce signed between the two countries.
"I know that some in Japan perceive NZ's agriculture as a threat - but in reality our production systems are complementary and NZ plays a key role in ensuring food security and sustainable supply for Japanese consumers all year round."
The NZBIF's brief is to maximise New Zealand's global competitive position and ensure NZ enterprises are fully integrated in the global economy.
Japanese protectionist sentiment will be difficult to overcome at the bilateral level according to Professor Yorizumi Watanabe.
Watanabe - who is head of international economy at Keio University - says New Zealand will face challenges getting an economic partnership agreement with Japan.
Watanabe believes that protectionist sentiment within Japan will diminish as its farming sector is reformed.
He points to a possible grouping of the four major democracies within the East Asia Summit: Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India which could provide a power balance to China.
· Fran O'Sullivan received assistance towards accommodation in Japan from the NZ International Business Forum.
