The recently signed Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) is said to represent a "new age free trade area" in that its terms and provisions go beyond the traditional trade agreements of tariff reductions or eliminations and focus on cooperation areas such as technology transfer, training, and SME development that will allow Filipino manufacturers to become more competitive. This Policy Notes enumerates some of these areas and explains what the agreement's possible overall impact on growth and poverty would be.
