New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed Wednesday to cooperate on global warming, security and other areas but failed to make progress on signing a free-trade agreement, according to a joint statement issued after their summit in Tokyo.
Clark and Fukuda failed to report any progress on a FTA despite New Zealand's desire for a deal that would promote agricultural exports to Japan.
During the meeting, Clark proposed that the two countries launch a joint study to explore a bilateral FTA, Japanese officials said.