YOKOHAMA — Foreign journalists who gathered Saturday in Yokohama to cover the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit are closely watching for indications of Japan's future stance on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, with the government having deferred a decision amid strong opposition from lawmakers and farmers.
"The goal of free trade in the region still looks blurry," said Dwi Anggia Ritmadhini of Indonesia's ANTV television network, who only arrived in Japan on Friday night after covering the Group of 20 summit in Seoul.
Indonesia hosted the 1994 APEC summit, when participating countries adopted the Bogor Goals on trade and investment liberalization and set a deadline of 2010 for developed nations and some developing economies to realize them.