ASEAN Plus 6 Agree to Finish by November Recommendations for East Asia Trade Area

TOKYO—The 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan, India, and other surrounding countries, called the ASEAN Plus 6, agreed Aug. 13 to accelerate drafting by November of a set of recommendations for an East Asian free trade zone and possibly to begin leadership consultations in 2012, Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry officials said Aug. 16.

However, discussions as to whether the zone should be an ASEAN Plus 6 or ASEAN Plus 3 were put off. The ASEAN Plus 6 are the 10 Southeast Asian economies plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand, ...