Foreign and Trade ministers and representatives from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies started here Wednesday a two- day meeting to discuss issues including trade and investment, clean development and human security in the region
Opening the morning session of the first day retreat of the 19th APEC Ministerial Meeting, Australian Trade Minister Warren Truss, co-chair of the meeting, said the morning discussions will cover supporting the multilateral trading system and WTO Doha Round and promoting regional economic integration.
During the afternoon session to be chaired by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, the ministers will discuss structural reform and behind-the-border barriers, which impact on the cost of doing business, and deal with human security, APEC reform, climate change and energy security issues, Truss said.
The ministerial meeting is held in preparations for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, scheduled here on Sept.8-9, as the ministers are responsible for providing advice and submitting reports to the leaders on these key issues.
The meeting "has potential to make very significant contribution to the current discussions of relations and trade issues of the world," Truss said.
Incepted in 1989, APEC is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia- Pacific region. Since then, it has grown to encompass 21 members spanning four continents, and represents the most economically dynamic region in the world.
Truss said that since its inception, the group has helped facilitate great prosperity in the region, as "the number of people living in absolute poverty has halved, GDP has doubled, and averagely applied tariff protections have fallen from 17 percent to 5 percent" over that time.
APEC now accounts for approximately 40 percent of the world's population, 56 percent of world GDP and 48 percent of world trade.
The theme of this year's APEC forum is "Strengthening our community, building a sustainable future."
The 21 member economies are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Source: Xinhua
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