By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter


PUSAN _ Foreign and trade ministers, attending the 21- member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) members to show the “flexibility,” needed to put forward trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

At their 17th APEC meeting here Wednesday, ministers reaffirmed in their joint statement the utmost importance attached by APEC economies to the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations by the end of 2006 with an “ambitious and overall balanced outcome.”

The round, which began in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, must be completed by the agreed upon deadline next year.

They committed themselves to the goals of free trade among developed members by 2010 and for developing members by 2020.

But the ministers stopped short of pointing fingers at any one country or grouping for their reluctance to open markets for farm goods by cutting tariffs.

Both the EU and the United States have long subsidized farmers in their respective countries.

The two parties are currently in negotiations to reduce those amounts but many experts doubt the negotiations can be concluded quickly.

EU’s heavy tariffs on agricultural products and farm subsides have recently been considered the key to reviving troubled international trade talks. EU officials, however, have argued that it is also necessary for developing nations to open up their service and manufacturing sectors.

The statement will be reviewed by their leaders at their summits on Friday and Saturday here.

The Cabinet ministers also recommended the leaders adopt a stand-alone statement on the DDA negotiations that could provide strong political leadership and commitment, necessary to produce a sound platform for successfully concluding the WTO ministerial meetings in Hong Kong, China, from Dec. 13-18.

They acknowledged differences among the APEC economies in global trade talks, but said a successful meeting in Hong Kong next month was critical to the success of the so-called Doha round of trade negotiations.

im@koreatimes.co.kr