APEC Summit to push trade talks
By Tay Jia Hao,WNS Southeast Asia Bureau Chief
HANOI - Asia-Pacific leaders are to pledge to tackle a deadlock in global trade talks at a key regional summit in Vietnam. In a draft statement circulated before the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum, the leaders say they will take the lead by making concessions. World Trade Organization (WTO) talks collapsed in July after countries failed to reach agreement on subsidies. The North Korean nuclear crisis is set to dominate bilateral meetings between US President George W Bush and others. Mr Bush may also use the summit to try to gather support for a free trade zone between the organisation's 21 members. Correspondents say the proposal is seen as an insurance policy in case efforts to revive world trade talks fail.
The global WTO talks were meant to boost free trade for the benefit of developing countries. But an inability by the US and Europe to agree over how to reduce agricultural subsidies caused the talks to stall in the so-called Doha round. According to the draft statement, the 21 Apec leaders will say: "We are ready to break the current deadlock: each of us is committed to move beyond our current positions in key areas of the Doha round." This will mean opening up agriculture markets and "making deeper reductions in trade-distorting farm support by major players", it says. The leaders will pledge to "remain personally involved" in pushing negotiations forward and trying to secure a breakthrough.
Apec's trade and foreign ministers agreed to press their leaders to issue a statement on trade in the course of the two-day conference. "Only an ambitious Doha agreement with real market access can achieve the economic growth and development goals that this world has set," Mr Bush said in Singapore before heading to Hanoi.
posted by wnsworld @ 11:46 PM
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