The 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has ended with the signing of a joint statement.
The 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has ended with the signing of a joint statement, which pledged more efforts in trade facilitation, human security, sustainable development and macroeconomic stability.
Chilean Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker, who presided over the two-day meeting, said after the meeting that the APEC has become an effective mechanism to promote trade liberalization and free trading system in the globe range.
Regarding trade issues as core topic at the meeting, Walker said ministers reaffirmed their strong support to the WTO Doha negotiations and called for continual work on the issue until December 2005, when a new WTO Ministerial Conference is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong.
According to Walker, the ministers have agreed to write the issue of Free Trade agreements (FTA) into the APEC agenda for the first time.
Under the theme of One Community, Our Future, ministers exchanged views on trade issues with the focus on the WTO and Free Trade Agreement, as well as a series of other related topics, including anti-corruption, human safety, APEC structural reform and anti-terrorism. (CRIENGLISH.com)
