The fifth and final meeting of the Australia-Japan Joint Study Group examining the feasibility of a free trade agreement concluded Friday and the final report is expected to be completed within weeks.

The final report of the joint study group will be considered by senior officials at a meeting here in early November.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Mark Vaile welcomed the conclusion of the meeting, describing it as " successful."

"The results emerging from the study suggest that an FTA between Australia and Japan would bring real benefits to Australian companies by giving them assured and improved access to the world's second largest economy and Australia's largest market for most of the past 50 years," Vaile said in a statement.

Australia would benefit greatly not only in traditional areas of bilateral trade such as minerals, energy and natural resources, but also in areas such as manufacturing and services, he said.

"There is considerable potential for Australia to lift its services exports to Japan in areas such as health and aged care, financial and legal services. An FTA with Australia's number one customer would help achieve this," he said.

The study group's work also suggests that Japan would reap major benefits, Vaile said, adding these benefits could include greater security of supply of key resources to Japan by reinforcing the role of the market place.

"An Australia-Japan FTA could provide Japanese customers with secure access to clean, safe and reliable supplies of the highest quality food from Australia," he said.

He also said that the work of the study group had highlighted sensitivities on both sides that would need to be managed carefully if agreement is reached to commence formal negotiation but he was confident these could be worked through.

Vaile said officials from both sides were expected to settle the final elements of the report over the coming weeks.

The joint study was initiated by Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi in April 2005.

Source: Xinhua