YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Asia-Pacific ministers on Thursday agreed to extend a freeze on trade barriers and pledged to work toward creating a vast free trade area in the world’s fastest growing region.

But a Group of 20 (G20) summit of major economies in neighboring South Korea — beset by deep divisions over currencies, monetary policy and global trade imbalances — is towering over the meeting of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Yokohama, south of Tokyo.

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Asia-Pacific ministers agreed on Wednesday to build on existing pacts in the dynamic region to establish a giant free trade zone in the coming years, Japanese officials said.

They also agreed to avoid taking any new protectionist measures for the next three years, and urged a conclusion of the Doha round of trade liberalization talks in 2011.

YOKOHAMA (Reuters) – Asia-Pacific economies, including China and the United States, were laying the groundwork on Sunday for a vast free trade area, but frictions over currencies and geopolitical rivalries threatened to undermine regional harmony.

China and the United States turned down the heat in an acrimonious dispute over currencies and trade imbalances at a meeting of finance ministers from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

YOKOHAMA (Reuters) – The differing pace of currency appreciation in Asia’s emerging markets needs to be addressed through regional cooperation to help ease global imbalances, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said on Sunday.

He also said in an interview that a one-size-fits-all cap on current account surpluses or deficits as a percentage of gross domestic product would not work.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific region gather in Japan this week to report on their efforts toward more balanced and sustainable regional growth through fiscal consolidation and more targeted investments in infrastructure and the environment.

Leaders of the same countries will also gather in Japan next week to map out a growth strategy, discuss regional economic integration and review progress toward the group’s goal of open trade and investment.

TOKYO/BEIJING (Reuters) – Japan said on Tuesday it was recalling its ambassador to Moscow temporarily to hear explanations about a row over disputed islands that is snarling ties with Russia.

Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan, struggling with a divided parliament and a fragile economy and now under fire for what critics call his mishandling of a similar row with China, got a fresh headache on Monday when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited one of four islands that both nations claim.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Leaders from Japan and Russia will likely to hold talks at an Asia-Pacific summit in mid-November, Japan’s top government spokesman said on Tuesday, despite a diplomatic row over disputed islands that both nations claim.

The flare-up of the feud over the islands, triggered by a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to one of the islands on Monday, adds to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s diplomatic headaches as he struggles to repair ties with Beijing, strained by another territorial row.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan and South Korea on Thursday sought to calm a brewing global row over exchange rates with pledges to work closely with their peers on challenges posed by economic imbalances driving currency markets.

Japan drew fire from its partners last month when it intervened on its own to cap the yen’s rise, while South Korea has repeatedly bought U.S. dollars in markets to keep its won down, buying an estimated $11 billion just in the past two weeks.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan and South Korea on Thursday sought to calm a brewing global row over exchange rates with pledges to work closely with their peers on challenges posed by imbalances driving currency markets.

Japan drew fire from its partners last month when it intervened on its own to cap the yen’s rise, while South Korea has repeatedly bought dollars in markets to keep its won down, buying an estimated $11 billion just in the past two weeks.

TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Japan and South Korea on Thursday
sought to calm a brewing global row over exchange rates with
pledges to work closely with their peers on challenges posed by
imbalances driving currency markets.

Japan drew fire from its partners last month when it
intervened on its own to cap the yen’s rise, while South Korea
has repeatedly bought dollars in markets to keep its won down,
buying an estimated $11 billion just in the past two weeks.