APEC Ministers Acknowledge Importance of Free Trade

Lima, Nov. 14 (Jiji Press)--Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum affirmed the importance of free trade at their meeting on Thursday, amid concerns over a possible rise in protectionism in the wake of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.

But the ministers from the 21 APEC member economies, including Japan, the United States and China, failed to adopt a joint statement during their meeting in the Peruvian capital of Lima. Working-level efforts to materialize such a statement are still underway.

Before the closing of the meeting, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that the participants "affirmed cooperation in promoting a free and fair trade environment and an investment environment to achieve sustainable growth."

At a press conference after the gathering, Yoji Muto, another Japanese minister, in charge of trade, said, "Many ministers called for reinforcing the rule-based free trade system through boosting the World Trade Organization's functions and promoting and expanding economic partnership agreements."

Muto declined to comment on why a joint statement was not agreed on during the meeting, only saying, "At a time when we are entering a new world, international cooperation is a very important point of view."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]