Ministers and representatives from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on Thursday called for further development of the multilateral trading system to maintain sustained economic growth in the region.
An open, rules-based, multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization (WTO) "provides the best means for sustaining economic growth," said the foreign and trade ministers and representatives in a joint statement released at the end of their two-day meeting in Australia's largest city Sydney.
The meeting was preparing for an APEC economic leaders meeting on Saturday and Sunday.
The ministers reviewed with WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy the outlook for the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), and recommended that the leaders adopt a stand-alone statement on the DDA negotiations.
For the region, they endorsed the Committee on Trade and Investment's report on work program for advancing the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment within the region.
The statement said the ministers submitted to the leaders "a comprehensive report on strengthening regional economic integration, including on a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific as a long-term prospect."
The ministers hold that high-quality and comprehensive regional trade agreements (RTA) and free trade agreements (FTA) can advance economic openness in the region and strengthen regional economic integration.
The RTA/FTA can also promote development of the multilateral trading system and realizing APEC's Bogor Goals, the statement said.
Bogor Goals specify the APEC objectives for eliminating developed members' trade and investment barriers by 2010, and those of developing members by 2020.
The ministers agreed with APEC's second Trade Facilitation Action Plan. The plan, endorsed at the ministers responsible for trade meeting in July, sets out a framework and timetable for achieving a further 5 percent reduction in trade transaction costs by 2010.
According to the statement, APEC has launched a Data Privacy Pathfinder initiative which will enable officials, regulators, industry and consumers to work together to better protect private information in the region and build confidence and trust in electronic commerce.
APEC, with a membership of 21 economies, is holding its annual meetings in Sydney to overview the economic cooperation process and making future plan. The ministerial meeting will submit its report to the leaders' meeting for approval.
Source: Xinhua
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