APEC ministers open meeting on investment

APEC ministers open meeting on investment

GINOWAN (AP): Energy ministers from countries along the Pacific met Friday to discuss how to sustain investment in new energy despite Asia's economic ills.

Officials said a major issue at the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting on energy will be how to prevent a drop off in private investment in the power industry.

The 18-nations in Asia, the Pacific and North and South America that make up APEC already consume more than half the world's energy.

Ahead of the meeting, being held in this city on the Japanese island of Okinawa, business groups called on the ministers to guarantee recent market-opening moves won't be reversed as Asian nations struggle with rising unemployment and bankruptcies.

"Ministers should ensure liberalization measures don't slow down as a result of the (crisis in the) Asian economy, and some prudence may be required in their implementation," said the Asia Pacific Energy Research Center, an industry group.

The group said APEC should further eliminate barriers to investment and competition as a way to encourage more money to flow into new energy projects.

It warned that new power production will likely fail to keep up with the Pacific region's growing appetite for energy. Consumption will increase more than 40 percent by 2010 even with the recent economic turmoil, it predicted.

Most of that demand is seen coming from developing APEC countries such as China, Thailand and Mexico.

Previous APEC energy meetings have focused on how to build a common regulatory framework that would allow energy and investment to flow more freely between member countries.

APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

Officials from Russia, Peru and Vietnam will also attend as observers.

At their first meeting two years ago, energy ministers agreed to cut subsidies and price controls.