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Japan will immediately remove the tariffs on almost all industrial products from Thailand. Japan will also immediately remove the tariffs on processed shrimps and tropical fruits such as mango and papaya from Thailand.

Thailand will immediately remove the tariffs on half of all Japanese steel imports. The remainder will be duty-free by 2017.

Read more: Japan?Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement

Japan Business Federation (?????????, Nippon Keizaidantairengoukai?) is an economic organization founded in May 2002 by amalgamation of Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations, established 1946) and Nikkeiren (Japan Federation of Employers' Associations, established 1948). Its 1,662 members consist of 1,343 companies, 130 industrial associations, and 47 regional economic organizations (as of June 22, 2007).

For most of the post-war period, the Keidanren has been the voice of big business in Japan and is generally considered the most conservative of the country's three major economic organizations. The other two organizations are the Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Japan Committee for Economic Development (?????).

Read more: Japan Business Federation

Japan emerged as one of the largest foreign aid donors in the world during the 1980s.

In 1991 Japan was the second largest foreign aid donor worldwide, behind the United States. Japan's ratio of foreign aid to GNP in this year was 0.32 %, behind the 0.35 % average for the OECD's Development Assistance Committee member countries, but ahead of the United States ratio of 0.20 %.

Read more: International economic cooperation policy of Japan

In the decades following World War II, Japan implemented stringent tariffs and policies to encourage people to save their income. With more money in banks, loans and credit became easier to obtain, and with Japan running large trade surpluses, the yen appreciated against foreign currencies. This allowed local companies to invest in capital resources much more easily than their competitors overseas, which reduced the price of Japanese-made goods and widened the trade surplus further. And, with the yen appreciating, financial assets became very lucrative.

With so much money readily available for investment, speculation was inevitable, particularly in the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the real estate market. The Nikkei stock index hit its all-time high on December 29, 1989 when it reached an intra-day high of 38,957.44 before closing at 38,915.87. Additionally, banks granted increasingly risky loans.

Read more: Japanese asset price bubble-History