|
REFILING: 3RD LD: APEC leaders 'committed' to unlock WTO trade talks 'next month'+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LIMA, Nov. 22_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: TRIMMING 20TH GRAF)
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 goes beyond 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 hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush, the G-20 leaders said they "shall strive to reach agreement this year on modalities."
The APEC summit, taking place in Peru for the first time, will likely be Bush's last official foreign trip before he leaves the White House in late January.
The senior officials, who were responsible for drafting the statement, said it was relatively easy for the member economies to reach a consensus on creating a more powerful message regarding the Doha Round. The part left until the last minute was which verb to pick to strengthen the G-20 phrase, they said.
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.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso told reporters after the first day of the two-day summit that successfully concluding the Doha Round will be the best answer to demonstrate that they are serious about fighting protectionism and that the world is different from at the time of the Great Depression.
But Aso also said at a hotel in Lima, "It was good that we made such a commitment, but it is uncertain whether we can achieve the target."
In the one-page special joint statement on the global financial 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 leaders stated that they will continue to "work closely, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, to implement future actions to address the crisis."
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 financial crisis, Aso proposed the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Trade Insurance Network, according to Japanese officials.
The Japanese premier told his counterparts that the network is aimed at facilitating trade and investment flows 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 the Washington declaration.
A slight difference is that the latest discussions at the APEC summit concentrated heavily on how to guard the real economy from the consequences of one of the worst financial disruptions in history, the officials said.
On macroeconomic measures, the leaders agreed that the International Monetary Fund should enhance cooperation with other international financial institutions to improve financial "regulatory and supervisory responses" and "conduct early warning exercises."
They also recognized the need to increase transparency of capital markets.
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.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
INDUSTRIES
Activate Email 
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO East, January 20-22, 2010. Miami, FL.
