Pacific Rim ministers agreed to accelerate efforts to seek economic integration through freer trade and investment in the region as they concluded a two-day meeting Thursday in Singapore.
The foreign and trade ministers of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum confirmed the need to make the economic growth in the region broader-based and ensure everyone in the area benefits from the integration with those in socially weak positions given close attention.
They also renewed their resolve to reject any types of protectionist measures in international trade, which have been on the rise since the global economic crisis last year, while seeking maximum flexibility to successfully conclude the stalled Doha Round of liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization. The multilateral negotiations were launched in 2001 and originally scheduled to be concluded in 2005.
The ministers will hold a press conference later in the day, releasing a joint statement, a draft of which obtained by Kyodo News says, "We reaffirm our commitment to accelerate APEC's core agenda of strengthening REI (regional economic integration)."
The initiative comes amid recent heated debate over which existing groupings in the region could be the most suitable base to deepen cooperation and seek a closer union in the future. There are two major multilateral regional institutions, APEC and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which holds regular summits with Japan, China and India.
Japan has also proposed an idea of forming an "East Asian community," although Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has left vague which countries should and should not join the framework.
The ministers agreed to continue to develop building blocks toward a possible Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific in the future. But conference sources said some work will be left undone to develop a range of possible pathways to achieve the free trade area as the concept has yet to be concretely established.
Examining economic growth after the economic crisis has been also high on the agenda of the meeting. The host Singapore has said the growth must be more "inclusive" with both developed and developing APEC members and all segments of society benefiting from the regional economic integration.
Japan, as the chair of next year's APEC meetings, proposed to draw up a comprehensive strategy to achieve such broader-based economic growth and identify the issues to be addressed with priority, including assistance for smaller firms and improvement in social-safety nets.
The agreements at the ministerial talks will be reflected in the summit of APEC leaders on Saturday and Sunday.
From Japan, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima joined the ministerial talks while Hatoyama will attend the leaders' summit.
APEC, which accounts for around 50 percent of the world's economic output and 40 percent of its population, 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.
