APEC Trade Ministers Plan Declaration of Support for Reviving WTO Negotiations
APEC Trade Ministers have reached a consensus to provide support to unlock the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), of the World Trade Organization. Details of this consensus will be released in a declaration by Ministers at the conclusion of their current two day series of meetings on Saturday.
Taking place in Pucón, in Southern Chile, this 10th Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade was attended by ministers and representatives of APEC's 21 Member Economies and the WTO Director General, Supachai Panitchpakdi.
Chile's Foreign Minister, Ms. Soledad Alvear, who is also Chair of the meeting, said APEC Member Economies will work collectively to progress WTO negotiations.
"We have reached agreement on a Ministerial statement of political support to provide momentum to the Doha Development Agenda," Minister Alvear said.
"This is intended to send a powerful signal to negotiators at the WTO."
The importance of APEC´s contribution for progressing the DDA negotiations was conveyed to Ministers by Chile's Ambassador to the WTO, Alejandro Jara.
"After the failure of Cancún, negotiations in Geneva have attempted to re-launch talks, now we are in a critical position that requires broad support and political endorsement," Ambassador Jara said.
"APEC Member Economies are in a strong position to send a message of endorsement and call for flexibility of the various positions so that negotiations may continue."
The central issue discussed at the morning session of the Meeting of Ministers' Responsible for Trade was support for the multilateral trading system. In the afternoon session, the areas of trade security and the Inclusion in the Bilateral and Regional Free Trade Agreements in the APEC Agenda were discussed.
The Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade will conclude tomorrow with a statement of the Chair including the issues addressed on general free trade and investment issues together with the ministerial statement in support of the DDA round of WTO negotiations.
In the plenary sessions intended for the concluding day of the meeting, ministers are intending to discuss a range of trade and social development issues. These will include significant new APEC Transparency Standards for government procurement, the ongoing problem of digital piracy, reports on progress by individual member economies in reaching the Bogor Goals and APEC technical and economic Cooperation.
The importance of the grouping of APEC members in the WTO is significant with APEC Member Economies representing around half of the world's trade and 60% of Global GDP.