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REFILING: 2ND LD: APEC leaders 'committed' to unlock WTO trade talks 'next month'+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LIMA, Nov. 22_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: FIXING DATELINE) Asia-Pacific leaders were "committed" Saturday to make a breakthrough "next month" in the long-running free trade talks under the World Trade Organization in an effort to counter the impact of the expanding global financial crisis. "We are committed to reach agreement on modalities next month on the basis of progress made to date" on the stalled WTO negotiations, they said in a special statement, released after the first day session of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit. "We and our ministers are intensifying our engagement with WTO counterparts to create the convergence necessary to achieve this outcome," it said. The 21 APEC leaders decided to use the word "commit" to signal their full determination to strike an outline deal by the year's end on key trade terms for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round of trade talks, senior officials said. The expression is stronger than what leaders of the Group of 20 major developed and developing countries said last Saturday at the financial summit in Washington as well as a phrase in a statement released earlier this week by trade and foreign ministers of the 21 APEC economies. At the financial summit, the G-20 leaders said they "shall strive to reach agreement this year on modalities." The stronger message from the leaders of the APEC economies, which account for nearly half of all global trade, is expected to add impetus to the move toward a possible ministerial meeting in Geneva next month to unlock the troubled negotiations, launched seven years ago in the Qatari capital of Doha. The WTO talks have been deadlocked mainly due to a row between developed and developing economies over cuts in farm and industry tariffs, and agricultural subsidies, known as modalities among people in the trade community. In the one-page special joint statement on the global crisis, the leaders also pledged not to impose any trade or investment barriers over the next 12 months and resist all forms of protectionism. The period of the moratorium on new trade barriers is the same as the one pledged by the G-20 leaders. The Pacific Rim leaders said they will "refrain within the next 12 months from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing WTO inconsistent measures in all areas, including those that stimulate exports." They noted that concerted efforts by the countries bordering the Pacific, seen as one of the central engines of the world's growth, would greatly contribute to staving off a potential serious economic slump. The APEC summit will likely be U.S. President George W. Bush's last official foreign trip before he leaves the White House in late January. On the first day of the APEC summit, the leaders mainly focused on issues related to the financial crisis, food and energy security and the WTO trade negotiations, according to the officials. As part of efforts to resolve the crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso proposed the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Trade Insurance Network, according to Japanese officials. Aso explained his counterparts that the network is aimed at facilitating trade and investment flows of the region by deepening cooperation for reinsurance among export credit agencies of the region, they said. The leaders, including also Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, met in the Peruvian capital just a week after the financial summit in Washington, so that most of the substance regarding how to address the crisis largely reflected the outcome of Washington declaration. On the second day, they will exchange views on regional economic integration, corporate social responsibility, climate change and human security. APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |