The foreign and trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies were close to reaching an agreement on Tuesday on issuing a special statement aimed at reviving the stalled global trade talks, said South Korea's APEC Ambassador Kim Jong-hoon.

The agreement, if formally approved at the APEC Ministerial Meeting, will be submitted to the two-day APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting set to start on Friday for final endorsement, he added.

"The ministers are expected to reach an agreement as early as Wednesday," the official who chaired this year's Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting told reporters.

The APEC ministers are in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan for a two-day meeting started on Tuesday.

APEC MINISTERS NEAR TO REACH AGREEMENT ON DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA STATEMENT

Kim said the special statement by the 21 Asia-Pacific Rim leaders will send a "strong and powerful" message to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to move forward with its trade negotiations. The WTO ministerial meeting will be held in Hong Kong, China, next month.

"It is now high time for APEC member economies to unite under one voice and hence make a breakthrough in the WTO negotiations, with the Hong Kong ministerial conference at hand,"Ban Ki-moon, South Korea's minister of foreign affairs and trade, told the opening of the APEC Ministerial Meeting.

On the sidelines the APEC ministerial meeting, the APEC trade ministers met with WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, focusing on the upcoming WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong next month.

At the APEC Ministerial Meeting, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun urged the member economies to make joint efforts to push for "substantial progress" of the Doha Round Talks before the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Meeting.

The new round of WTO talks should pay special concern to development, Yi said, adding that the special concern of WTO new members should also be effectively addressed.

The WTO Doha Round trade talks, first introduced at the fourth WTO biannual ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar in 2001, have been stalled due to deep differences between the developed and developing members on market access, agriculture subsides and tariff structures. The push by APEC leaders to keep the momentum going is seen as important because the region represents nearly half of the world trade. (more)

APEC MINISTERS TO ADOPT BIRD FLU INITIATIVE

In addition to trade liberalization, measures to prevent the spread of bird flu was also on top of the agenda of the APEC Ministerial Meeting.

The APEC ministers of foreign affairs and trade also adopted an initiative on Tuesday to tackle the spread of bird flu, according to Kim Jong-hoon, South Korea's APEC ambassador.

The initiative will be forwarded to leaders of the 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, he added.

"The initiative is aimed at reinforcing the capacity of preventing the pandemic, promoting exchange of related information and enhancing public awareness on the virus," Kim said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said China supports APEC in establishing a cooperation framework of bird flu prevention and control.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will put forward an initiative at the APEC Economic Leaders'Meeting on holding a symposium on containing the new contagious disease in China, said the Chinese foreign minister.

APEC LEADERS TO ISSUE SPECIAL STATEMENT ON NUCLEAR ISSUE OF KOREAN PENINSULAR

The Pacific Rim leaders are expected to issue a special statement on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsular on Saturday at the end of their annual APEC gathering here, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Foreign Ministry source as saying on Tuesday.

The statement, to be issued separately from the APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration, is expected to call for the resolution of the nuclear issue.

It is still unclear how the statement will be issued, but the informal leaders' meeting chairman, South Korean President Roh Moo- hyun, is likely to make a verbal statement at the Nurimaru APEC House on the second day of the Economic Leaders' Meeting, Yonhap said.

During the two-day gathering started on Tuesday, the Pacific Rim ministers will finalize the wording of statements to be submitted to APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting scheduled on Nov. 18- 19. The statements were prepared by APEC senior officials at their two-day working-level meeting on Nov. 12-13.

The ministers will also focus on anti-terror, fighting corruption, protection from natural disasters and high oil prices.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the ministers also had a flurry of bilateral meetings.

APEC currently has 21 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The chairmanship rotates among members, with South Korea holding the chair this year.

Source: Xinhua