The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, today announced the sixth round of negotiations toward a Canada-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The negotiations will take place in Ottawa from July 28 to July 31, 2014.

A joint study on the possibility of a Canada-Japan economic partnership agreement concluded that a trade agreement with Japan could boost Canada’s economy by $3.8 billion annually, which is equivalent to the creation of almost 25,000 new jobs, and increase Canada’s exports to Japan by as much as 67 percent. An agreement would strengthen bilateral trade and investment opportunities in many areas, benefiting all sectors of the economy, including agri-food products, forestry and wood products, fish and seafood, manufacturing, natural resources and financial services...

This has been excerpted from 22 July 2014 news release by Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, and is available in its entirety at http://www.international.gc.ca/media/comm/news-communiques/2014/07/22a.aspx?lang=eng.