21 Leaders to Give Impetus to Stalled Doha Trade Talks


By Kim Sung-jin
Staff Reporter
PUSAN _ Leaders from 21 Pacific Rim economies will convene the first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit here Friday under a main theme of ``Advancing Freer Trade’’ in the region.

The first meeting of the two-day summit, known as the Retreat, will open at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO), the organizers said Thursday.

After the meeting, the leaders will meet with the APEC Business Advisory Council to hear their recommendations on key international issues such as ways of reviving the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s so-called Doha Round of trade negotiations.

President Roh Moo-hyun will hold a dinner for the APEC leaders and some 1,000 other delegates and economic leaders participating in this year’s APEC forum that opened in this southern port city on Nov. 12, at the BEXCO, according to the organizers.

Among those to be present at the dinner are U.S. President George W. Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and their spouses.

Tomorrow, the second APEC Retreat will be held at a specially designed facility, the Nurimaru APEC House, on a nearby islet, under the theme of ``a safe and transparent Asia-Pacific region.’’ Nurimaru is a newly coined Korean word, meaning the pinnacle of the world.

The two-hour summit will be followed by an official lunch at the APEC House.

The 21 heads of state will then dress up in a traditional Korean overcoat, called ``Turumagi,’’ for a group photograph in front of the APEC House.

After the photograph session, the leaders will gather to announce the Leaders’ Declaration of the annual forum.

Statements adopted earlier by senior officials and ministers of the 21

APEC member countries indicated that in the declaration, the leaders would call for joint efforts to combat terrorism, corruption and a possible avian influenza pandemic.

The leaders are also expected to urge progress in the WTO’s trade

negotiations that have stalled due to strong objections from developed nations, especially European countries, sources said.

The major bone of contention is the degree to which subsidies for their heavily protected farming sectors will be cut.

The leaders will likely demand that agricultural export subsidies by developed nations be abolished completely by 2010, the sources said.