Asia Pacific leaders to issue statement on WTO, says official

Asia Pacific leaders to issue statement on WTO, says official

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

Asia Pacific leaders meeting in South Korea this month are expected to issue a statement aimed at pushing forward floundering global trade talks, an official said on Tuesday.

The statement will bring to bear the leaders' influence on a crucial meeting of World Trade Organization (WTO) ministers in Hong Kong in December, said Choi Seok-Young, executive-director of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) secretariat.

Leaders from 21 Asia-Pacific economies, including U.S. President George W. Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin, will attend the Nov. 18 and Nov. 19 summit in the southern city of Busan.

"There are two documents coming out of the leaders' meeting -- number one is the leaders declaration," Choi told AFP in an interview at the secretariat's office in Singapore.

The other document would be the statement on the WTO talks, currently focused on the agenda in the so-called Doha Development Round.

While the language of the statement was still being crafted, it will be meant as a "political input for the success of the Hong Kong ministerial meeting," Choi said.

The APEC leaders' statement should contribute to efforts to help get the ball rolling in Hong Kong, he added, pointing out that APEC economies account for around half of global trade volumes.

An APEC statement "would not command the WTO per se, but we can at least give a lot of influence for the negotiating positions of other countries in the WTO," he said.

However, the stand-alone statement on the WTO will also have to accommodate the differing positions between APEC members such as the United States and China, which could water down its impact, Choi said.

"Initially, we had liked to make a strong statement but the positions among APEC members are different," he said.

"We have to make a consensus on each individual item. The language (of the statement) will be crafted out to reflect these different positions."

WTO ministers will meet in Hong Kong from Dec. 13 to Dec. 18 to approve an outline deal of a trade accord.

Global trade talks have stalled over farm trade, with agricultural product importing and exporting countries divided over proposed maximum tariff rates.