Apec in danger of being overloaded says Australian PM

9.40am

SANTIAGO - There was a danger of overloading the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group by straying too far from its focus on economic growth and development, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard said today.

Mr Howard said though the recent focus on counter-terrorism and security issues was inevitable, the core task of Apec was on growing the economies of the Asia-Pacific which in turn would help lift millions of people out of poverty.

Apec's agenda, and core business, is the opening of trade among its 21 members but it has become clouded with several other issues in recent years.

Mr Howard, attending Apec's annual leaders' meeting in Chile, said those other issues could detract from the organisation's main goals, to its detriment.

"I think we have to very careful that we don't overload Apec," he told reporters.

"To vary an old phrase, if you spread the butter too thinly it will disappear.

"The original goal of Apec was to drive econoimc growth through achieving certain free trade goals.

"If it becomes a mini sort of general assembly, that goal will become harder to achieve."

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of central Santiago, mostly protesting against globalisation and the Iraq war policies of United States President George W Bush.

Mr Howard said free trade was a cause for good, especially in poor nations where reducing trade barriers would help lift incomes and standards of living.

"I'm a believer in free world trade not just because it's in Australia's national interest, but I also believe in freer world trade because it's the great long-term hope of the really poor countries of the world, the really struggling countries that haven't been able to lift their living standards," he said.

"Freer trade, especially in agriculture, is so very important."

But Mr Howard continued to play down the chances of an Apec free trade agreement (FTA) that is being demanded by the organisation's business community members.

Trade ministers have backed a scoping study into the concept.

Mr Howard said he thought the scoping study was a terrific idea, but the next step to a full Apec FTA may be too much.

"I think that's a terrific idea to have a scoping study, I'm just saying that I just think it's a big ask in the near future," he said.

"I just think we've got to be realistic, and we can't (allow) these relationships to be process driven, it's the substance of a relationship that matters."

Mr Howard said although Australia and China had commissioned a scoping study into a possible FTA, that did not mean the relationship between the two countries would falter if the agreement never got off the ground.

He said ultimately FTAs and other trade deals were processes, while what really mattered was what was happening on the ground.

"It's actually the tonnages you ship, it's the goods you sell, the services you provide, the educational places you can make available, the tourists you can welcome, that matters," he said.

"You take what you can get for the benefit of your country.

"If there's a bilateral agreement that's good for Australia well I would take it. Equally Australia has an interest in achieving multilateral trade outcomes."

Mr Howard will take part in the economic leaders' retreat that will include Mr Bush, Chinese leader Hu Jintao, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

- AAP