'Progress likely' on trade pact

APEC leaders proposed a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific in 2006. APEC trade ministers in May agreed to develop a pragmatic, step-by-step guide for the trade zone.

China proposed that APEC launch a feasibility study on the realization of a trade zone, which would be "a substantial step forward in 2014, beginning the process and laying solid groundwork for the eventual realization of an FTAAP", said the Chinese delegation's report to SOM3.

"We will pursue an FTAAP with a step-by-step, consensus-based approach" with the goal of achieving a pact by 2025, said the Chinese report.

Tomo Uyama, deputy director-general of the Economic Affairs Bureau and Latin American & Caribbean Affairs Bureau of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that "how exactly (the study) will be done is up for consideration. I don't know when (it will start), so ... we are kind of looking in the same direction and considering what's the realistic way to do it.

"There is firm agreement already that we should push this regional integration. We talked about the pathway to the FTAAP. Not everyone agrees fully, but we still have common views," Uyama said.