Japan, Mongolia reach free trade agreement

Japan and Mongolia reached a basic accord on a free trade deal during a summit in Tokyo on Tuesday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
The trade pact features Ulan Bator abolishing its tariffs on most Japanese automobiles in ten years.
During his summit Tuesday with President of Mongolia Tsakhia Elbegdorj in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to provide support for facilitating Mongolia's exports and sustainable economic development, as a complementary package of an economic initiative Tokyo announced at a summit last year.
In the FTA negotiations, which began in 2012, Japan called on Mongolia to eliminate a 5% tariff on Japanese car imports, while Ulan Bator asked Tokyo to remove or significantly reduce its 38.5% tariff on Mongolian beef, Japan's News Agency (Kyodo) reported.
Japan's main export items to Mongolia include used passenger vehicles, which account for some 45% of the total. Tokyo has also called on Ulan Bator to ease restrictions on foreign investment to facilitate Japanese firms' businesses in such sectors as energy and infrastructure.