Oil prices, trade talks high on APEC agenda, U.S. says
Oil prices, trade talks high on APEC agenda, U.S. says
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Rising oil prices and building a consensus on a new round of global trade talks will be high on the agenda of Asia-Pacific leaders at their summit in Brunei next month, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum were trying to work out measures to reduce vulnerability to volatile crude prices, Larry Greenwood, a State Department official responsible for APEC issues, told a news conference via a video link from Washington.
Ways to reduce vulnerability included developing alternative fuels and building up supplies in the region, he said.
"We are looking at a couple of things on the supply and one of them is a program to help educate and promote stockpiling regimes in the region," he said.
Some APEC members such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Russia are big oil producers and stand to gain from the recent surge in prices to their highest level in 10 years.
Greenwood also said Washington would continue to press for an early launch of a new round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.
WTO members failed to launch a new round in Seattle last December.
Greenwood welcomed bilateral free trade arrangements among APEC members, saying they were building-blocks for a stronger multilateral trading system.
The November 15-16 APEC meeting will also discuss the liberalization of telecommunication services and electronic commerce in the region, he said.
Greenwood said Asian economies had recovered strongly after the regional economic crisis in 1997-98 but warned against complacency on structural reforms.
Asked whether North Korea would be admitted as a member of the regional group, he said: "We have no position right now on whether North Korea be a member of APEC or not".
He said there was a moratorium on admission of new members in APEC until 2008.
"There is no immediate prospect for new members under the decision made a number of years ago."
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
The group's 21 members represent 60 percent of global gross domestic product and 45 percent of world trade.