Leaders of 12 countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations issued a statement in Bali on Tuesday that they will make efforts to conclude the negotiations by yearend.
The statement, issued after the meeting held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, said in part, "We have agreed that negotiators should now proceed to resolve all outstanding issues with the objective of completing this year a comprehensive and balanced, regional agreement." It also said that the participating countries were "on track" to complete the talks.
But the negotiations are so secretive that it is unknown to the public what has been discussed concerning trade rules in the 21 TPP fields, which include government procurement, competition policy, labor standards, intellectual property, financial service, investment, telecommunications and environmental standards.