TOKYO, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that Japan will continue efforts to help craft a road map for global trade, despite the collapse of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks Sunday in Cancun, Mexico.

　　"It is unfortunate, since efforts had been made to reach a conclusion," Koizumi noted, referring to the failed talks. "But there is time, and Japan will continue efforts for reaching the conclusion," he added.

　　The WTO meeting ended without an accord in Cancun due to bitter disagreements between rich and poor nations over farm trade and new rules, according to Kyodo News.

　　The collapse is likely to make it difficult for the WTO members to conclude the current Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations by the January 1, 2005, deadline.

　　"The question of how to reach a conclusion while having Japan's demands incorporated is a difficult one, since there are differences between developed and developing countries," Koizumi said.

　　Japanese officials also voiced disappointment over the failure of WTO talks, but said there was progress in discussions.

　　Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said that the meeting was "meaningful" as progress was made in the process toward crafting a new trade framework under the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations.

　　Kawaguchi and two other Japanese ministers who attended the Cancun meeting -- trade minister Takeo Hiranuma and farm minister Yoshiyuki Kamei -- pledged to continue efforts to bring the Doha Round to a successful conclusion by the deadline of January 1, 2005.

　　Kawaguchi indicated that tough work looms prior to the deadline, saying, "We cannot make it unless we undertake considerable efforts from now."

　　Touching on sharp disagreement between rich and poor nations which led to the collapse, Hiranuma said, "This became a good lesson. We should not take it pessimistically."

　　"We should rather listen to the voices of developing nations and settle problems together," he said.

　　Kamei said Japan's demand on agriculture was partly reflected in a revised draft for a ministerial statement which had been supposed to be adopted at the meeting.

　　Developed and developing nations could not narrow differences over the so-called "Singapore issues," -- cross-border investment, competition policies, trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement.

　　Kawaguchi renewed Japan's proposal for launching full negotiations on the issues and urged developing nations to agree.

　　"We need rules. It was unfortunate that we did not get the understanding from developing countries on this matter," she said.

　　Japanese government badly wanted to launch full negotiations for all four issues but developing nations blocked the attempt, according to Kyodo.

　　Local economists also see the WTO meeting as the last chance to put the stalled negotiations of the current Doha Round back on track by the deadline.

　　The collapse of WTO meeting clouded prospects for crafting a global trading framework under the trade body, they said.

　　But the breakdown saved Japan from being forced to take tougher farm-liberalization measures such as significant tariff cuts for politically sensitive rice, the experts pointed out.

　　The Cancun ministerial meeting collapsed mainly due to sharp disagreements between rich and poor nations over agriculture and new trading rules.

　　If differences over these issues had been narrowed by the end of the five-day meeting, the meeting would have adopted tougher farm liberalization measures for Japan, including a proposal for capping agricultural tariffs or expanding import quotas.

　　According to Hidehiro Konno, former vice minister at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, agricultural products, particularly rice, are highly protected in Japan as many governing party lawmakers depend on farmers for votes.

　　From the viewpoint of protecting domestic farmers from low-tariff imports, the WTO meeting's failure may have become a temporary relief for Japanese negotiators, said Konno, who joined the Japanese delegation in the 2001 WTO meeting in Doha. Enditem