he wants japan to join the tpp but japanese farmers are strongly opposed to the idea. >>> toyota motor will start making cars in russia's far east. it will be the first time for a base in the region. observers say toyota will supply parts to a joint venture set up and russian car maker solars. the venture will begin assembling sports utility vehicles at solar's plant as early as 2012. annual output is expected to be around 30,000 vehicles. auto sales in russia plunged following the global financial crisis but demand recovered to about 2 million vehicles last year and is expected to grow further. sources say through local production, toyota aims to offer lower end prices avoiding tariffs. tariffs are as high as 35%. >>> now let's check on the markets. lack of incentives kept tokyo stocks trading in a narrow range on friday morning. the make kay average ended the morning session at 10,839, up 2 points. many investors stayed on the sidelines keeping an eye on the spread of anti-government protests in the middle east. in currencies, the dollar is meanwhile lower on friday morning in tokyo.

it also presents significant challenges i have two questions regarding the tpp. one of the countries involved in negotiations in vietnam is classified by our own government as a nonmarket economy, quote on quote. they don't have a space government, and many of the major industries are controlled by the states. as you negotiate transpacific partnership, what efforts are you making to ensure that state-owned enterprising countries like the non--- we have this problem and a lot of countries, which are owned or controlled by foreign governments, a very serious problem, very serious to our competitiveness and leveling the field. what are you doing it if it this will not be able to enter a market enacting the government national interest instead of companies commercial interest. >> thank you for your candor with now and this morning. i would say to you one of the reasons we are excited about this tpp, it isn't an opportunity to bring the country like the viet nam into this global system. one of the areas that we are frankly looking to expand on in our investment chapte

investor, about tpp and proceeding.to table something next week, do you, in terms of tpp, and i think it's important we proceed in the right way. there will be a tabling of some proposals next week? >> yes, there will. as you know, we have had four rounds of talks. we are moving very aggressively to meet our own goal, which is as originally a crafted trade agreement for the 21st century with the highest standards in every area across the board. we will be meeting in chile next week for the first round of the more intense negotiations and we will begin tabling proposals in certain categories at that time. >> everyone should note that most of the participants in tpp we have a trade agreement with. it's the newcomers in terms of a trade agreement, vietnam and now malaysia, and they raised some important issues not only in terms of the workers' rights, which is important, but in terms of agriculture, etc., and as we have discussed, i hope very much that before those proposals are tabled they will be further consultations wi

ambassador, about, about tpp and proceeding. you spend to table -- intend to table something next week, do you, in terms of tpp? and i think it's important we proceed, but in the right way. there'll be a tabling of some proposals next week? >> yes, there will. as you know, we've had four rounds of talks. we are moving very aggressively to meet our own goal which is aspirationally to craft a trade agreement for the 21st century with the highest standards in every area across the board. we will be meeting in chile next week for the first round of more intense negotiations, and we'll begin tabling proposals in certain, certain categories at that time. >> okay. everyone should note that most of the participants in tpp we have a trade agreement with. it's the newcomers in terms of a trade agreement -- vietnam and now malaysia. and they raise some important issues not only in terms of worker rights, which is important, but in terms of agriculture, etc. and as we've discussed, i hope very much that before those proposals are tabled, th

australia is a major participant in the tpp talks. >>>ar arron earnings have soared for japan's major electronics parts makers due to rising global demand for smartphones. tdk posted $8 billion in sales in the april to december period, up 10% from a year earlier. the firm's net profit nearly quadrupled in yen terms to $470 million. the strong results came as demand grew for the company's mainstay products such as condensers used in if mobile devices. tdk told a news conference on monday that it expects continued double-digit increases in sales of smartphone parts. >>> meanwhile, kyocera posted a record profit of over $1 billion, nearly five times as big as the previous year. it was due to brisk sales of ceramics parts that cover the surface of semiconductors. >>> murata manufacturing's net income tripled to more than $530 million owing to higher demand for its condensers. apps electric turned to profit, making $95 million on the back of growing orders for touch panels. >>> the strong yen has dealt a crushing blow to japan's apparel in

ambassador about tpp and proceeding. you intend to table something next week, do you, in terms of teeth bp and i think it is important we proceed in the right way. there will be a tabling of some proposals next week? >> yes there will. as you know we have had four rounds of talks. we are moving very aggressively to meet our own goals, which are aspirational he to craft a trade agreement for the 21st century with a higher standards in every area across the board. we will be meeting in chile next week for this first round of more intense negotiations and we then we will begin tabling proposals in certain categories at that time. >> everyone should note that most of the participants in tpp, we have a trade agreement with. it is for newcomers in terms of a trade agreement, vietnam and now malaysia, and they raised some important issues not only in terms of worker rights which is important but in terms of agriculture etc.. and as if we have -- as we have discussed i hope very much that before those proposals are tabled that t

we think the tpp is an extraordinary opportunity for the united states because it is our belief, and part of our rationale reaching the decision to engage with this original group of countries, our hope is obviously that this will effectively become the free trade agreement, at least of those toilet never a pack economies, impressed the architecture for what could be the largest most dynamic trading area in the world in southeast asia. with respect to our trading partners we want to be -- we are not looking to retreat our existing market share. there are lots of areas that we can further in the industry by looking at regulatory coherence, addressing some of the nontariff barriers. obviously, with the new markets with malaysia, vietnam, those are extraordinary opportunities for american businesses across the board. we have a very ambitious goal. i don't know -- it's sort of our aspirational goal but the thought was start with a small number of like-minded economies. work very aggressively. put everything on the table and let's just see where we are by the time that our leaders need at