By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter


PUSAN _ Leaders attending the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum decided to begin studying ways to narrow socio-economic disparities, which they said have an ``adverse effect on the advancement of globalization.’’

On the starting day of the two-day summit in Pusan (Busan) Friday, the leaders reached a consensus on the necessity of reducing the gap between developed and developing economies by strengthening economic and technical cooperation.

The announcement was made by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon at a press conference at the BEXCO convention center in this southeastern port city.

Such an effort, initiated by President Roh Moo-hyun, was designed to ensure that the free trade goals were not only reached but that their potential benefits were distributed as broadly as possible within the Asia-Pacific region.

Roh, a proponent of free trade, hinted at the initiative when he attended a press conference in Seoul on Nov. 8 in which he emphasized socio-economic disparities tend to widen as the advanced economies place greater importance on building a more business-friendly environment.

The president, born in 1946 in a poor rural town in South Kyongsang Province, was elected in December 2002 largely thanks to his ``new broom’’ image that strongly appealed to those in their 20s and 30s.

At their meeting, known as the Retreat, the leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, also ``welcomed’’ the Busan Roadmap, the mid-term stocktaking exercise on progress toward the Bogor Goals.

Based on this roadmap, leaders will pursue free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 and 2020 for developed and developing countries, respectively. Since 1994, APEC members have been working toward a series of goals, dubbed the Bogor Declaration after the Indonesian host city of that year.

The leaders plan to announce a stand-alone statement on Sunday, providing the strong political leadership and commitment necessary to build a solid platform for successfully concluding the negotiations in the 6th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong from Dec. 13-18.

In a ministerial statement, adopted on Nov. 16 in Pusan, cabinet members agreed that significant progress must be made next month in resolving ``considerable divergences’’ and the WTO talks must establish a ``clear roadmap’’ for completing the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations by the end of 2006.

The trade negotiations have stalled due to strong objections from the developed nations, especially European countries. EU’s reduction of tariffs on agricultural products and farm subsides have been considered the key to reviving the troubled talks.

``We’re basically saying that now the ball is in Europe’s court,’’ Ban told reporters. ``The leaders at the meeting were asking for a very active and flexible attitude in negotiations from the Europeans.’’

EU officials, however, have argued that it is also necessary for developing nations to open up their service and manufacturing sectors.

The Doha Round of negotiations on world trade liberalization, began in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, must be completed by the agreed upon deadline next year.

During their first-day meeting, the APEC leaders emphasized the importance of regional trade agreements (RTAs) and free trade agreements (FTAs), saying that they view ``high-quality’’ and ``comprehensive’’ trade agreements as one of the principal avenues for reaching the Bogor Goals.

They recognized that the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights is essential to building a knowledge-based economy and are key factors for boosting economic development.

In addition, the leaders welcomed the transformation of the current ministerial committee on economic and technical cooperation into the ministerial steering committee to meet the demands for reforming APEC. They also agreed to continue seeking for APEC’s financial reform, higher efficiency through better coordination and continuous reform.

On Saturday, the leaders will have their final meeting at a dome-shaped villa, Nurimaru APEC House, meaning ``pinnacle of the world,’’ on Tongbaek Islet near BEXCO. Roh is set to read a declaration in front of other leaders, who will be wearing traditional Korean overcoats, ``Turumagi.’’

The ministerial statement indicated that the leaders’ declaration would include calls for joint efforts to combat terrorism, corruption and a possible avian influenza pandemic.

im@koreatimes.co.kr