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WORLD / Asia-Pacific
APEC forum to focus on climate change, free trade
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-02 18:46
SYDNEY -- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum launched its
2007 Leaders Week here on Sunday to discuss a wide range of issues
focusing on climate change and free trade.
The Leaders Week started with a two-day APEC Concluding Senior Officials
Meeting at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Center. Officials from
the 21 APEC members will make final preparations for the APEC Ministerial
Meeting, slated for September 5-6, and APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, for
September 8-9.
The week-long meetings will also include a Business Advisory Council
meeting, a business summit, and an ABAC dialogue with the economic
leaders.
Under the theme of "Strengthening Our Community, Building a Sustainable
Future," the leaders, officials and representatives from APEC members
will also discuss issues such as energy security, human security,
forestry recovery and APEC reform.
At the end of the week, a declaration on climate change could be adopted
at the economic leaders meeting to show their determination to tackle the
issue.
"The adoption of the declaration would demonstrate the determination and
positive attitude of the APEC members to address the challenge and raise
public awareness in an aim to boost the regional and international
cooperation on the issue," said Chinese assistant foreign minister Sui
Tiankai at a recent press conference in Beijing.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that he hoped to use the
annual meeting to create a new approach to tackling the issue of climate
change.
"We should strive to find agreement on principles for international
action that genuinely address the problem," he said.
The prime minister said that he hoped APEC leaders would also go "beyond
agreement on principles" to set a " long-term aspirational goal" for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
As to the issue of trade, the economic leaders are expected to discuss
ways to break the current deadlock on the WTO'S Doha Round negotiations.
The APEC ministers responsible for trade, at their 13th meeting in
Australia's Cains in July, stated that APEC supports the multilateral
trading system and re-affirmed their commitment to a successful
conclusion of the Doha round negotiations this year.
It is expected that a statement on the issue will be adopted at the end
of the week.
On the sidelines of the APEC meetings, bilateral or multilateral talks
will be held among the leaders.
Since its inception in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence
among Asia-Pacific economies, APEC has become a formidable regional forum
acting as the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and
practical economic and technical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the APEC region has increased
three-fold to 37.3 trillion U.S. dollars since 1989, Australian Minister
for Trade Warren Truss said in a Saturday report released on the eve of
the APEC meetings.
In 1989, APEC economies had a per capita GDP of 5,205 U.S. dollars which
was on par with the world average. But in 2006, its per capita GDP
reached almost 14,000 U.S. dollars, compared with 10,305 U.S. dollars for
the world's average, Truss said.
The APEC economic growth has delivered benefits to almost 3 billion
people in the region, Truss said.
APEC currently has 21 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China,
China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore,
South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Australia is the
chair of this year.
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