The Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade wrapped up in Ho Chi Ming City on Friday, reaching consensus on the issues of strengthening the multilateral trading system, implementation of the Busan roadmap towards Bogor goals, and trade and investment liberalization and facilitation (TILF).

The ministers from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) reaffirmed the importance of supporting an open, rules-based, multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization (WTO), and noted the urgency of advancing the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations so that they could conclude by the end of 2006 as targeted.

They also reaffirmed that high-quality, transparency and broad consistency in regional trade arrangements and free trade agreements (RTAs/FTAs) are important avenues to achieving the Bogor goals of free and open trade and investment in Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, they encouraged the development of non-binding model measures for commonly accepted FTA chapters can be reported back to APEC ministers and leaders for endorsement in November.

To realize Bogor goals in 2010 for developed countries and in 2020 for developing ones, the trade ministers endorsed the framework for an action plan which includes the development of early harvest deliverables and encouraged APEC senior officials' meetings and relevant committees to intensify their efforts to develop a strong, balanced and concrete action plan for endorsement at the next APEC ministerial meeting.

Reaffirming their commitment to achieving the objective of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation in the APEC region by 2010 and 2020, the ministers supported a collective and action-oriented approach to APEC trade facilitation aiming at a further 5-percent reduction in trade transaction costs in the region by 2010. They also stressed the need of targeted capacity building for member economies to pursue investment liberalization and facilitation in the region.

Besides the key trade and investment issues, the ministers also attached great importance to strengthened intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, closed economic and technical cooperation, and improved secure and favorable business environment, including transparency and anti-corruption, energy security, private sector development, emergency preparedness, health security, and secure trade.

APEC, established in 1989 for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, has 21 members which account for more than a third of the world's population, nearly 60 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), and about 47 percent of the world trade.

It has worked to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers across the Asia-Pacific region, creating efficient domestic economies and dramatically increasing exports.

Source: Xinhua