Prime Minister Naoto Kan faces the huge task of forging consensus among the 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and paving the way for a regionwide free-trade zone as chair of the summit that kicks off Saturday in Yokohama.
However, the chances of the summit succeeding under Japan's stewardship appear gloomy as Tokyo has deferred its own decision on whether to join the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a regional free-trade pact, and serious diplomatic rows with China and Russia show little sign of easing.
APEC reaches a watershed this year, as 2010 is the deadline for the 1994 Bogor Goals on trade and investment liberalization to be realized by five industrialized nations — Japan, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand — and eight developing economies — South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Malaysia and Taiwan. The deadline set for the rest of APEC's developing countries to meet these goals is 2020.