Senior officials of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum concluded preparatory talks Wednesday at a beach resort in Bali, Indonesia, without agreeing on a timeline for creating a "well-connected" region.
"Ninety-seven percent of the deliverables proposed during the meeting have been on track and only some still need to be sharpened," said Yuri Thamrin, director general for Asia-Pacific and Africa at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, trying to put a positive spin on the two-day meeting that started Tuesday.
According to Thamrin, one of the "deliverables" that has not received full support from APEC economies is related to the target of increasing connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region.