Apec ministers urge new effort on trade talks

2.00pm

SANTIAGO, Chile - Pacific Rim trading nations said today they should pool their influence to breathe new life into talks to free up world trade.

Officials from China to Canada endorsed the call as trade and foreign ministers from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum met in the Chilean capital.

"We are all committed to a very ambitious resolution," Canadian Trade Minister Jim Peterson told Reuters on the sidelines of Apec, saying trade talks launched in Doha three years ago should now be revived.

World Trade Organisation members launched an ambitious free trade agenda in the Qatari capital of Doha in 2001, but the talks broke down two years later in an acrimonious dispute over farm subsidies at Cancun, Mexico.

In central Santiago, several miles from the Apec convention centre, police arrested more than 230 people in scattered protests against the Apec agenda and what will be US President George W Bush's first overseas trip since his re-election two weeks ago.

Police used tear gas on protesters, who mainly targeted Bush and the war in Iraq. The government has approved one major anti-Apec march on Friday, when groups who want the forum to pay more attention to labour and environmental issues will be allowed to make their case.

Chilean Police Chief Alberto Cienfuegos said officers used legitimate force to avoid violence and damage to property.

Apec trade chiefs said they hoped to repeat this week the success they had when they met here in June and helped spur WTO working-level talks.

"The mood in the meeting is very upbeat and positive as far as the WTO is concerned," Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile told reporters. Apec members must now maintain that momentum in the coming months, he said.

US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick also stressed the need for Apec - whose members account for at least half of world trade - to push WTO talks. Apec's first summit in Seattle in 1993 helped prod the European Union to conclude the Uruguay Round of talks, leading to the creation of the WTO.

"During these negotiations, Apec has emerged as a constructive voice for pushing global trade liberalisation," Zoellick said before leaving Washington on Tuesday.

The ministerial meetings will be followed on Saturday and Sunday by a summit of leaders of most Apec countries. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao will also hold bilateral talks.

China, whose fast-growing economy and potential market of 1.3 billion people has made it a major world trade player, vowed to do its share to free up trade.

"China supports and values using the Apec framework to back up the multilateral trading system and China will do more work and play a greater role, using our inherent strengths to push for substantive results in trade talks," Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang told Reuters in an interview.

This year's meeting will also focus on cutting red tape and reducing transaction costs for Asia-Pacific businesses.

The Apec members are 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.

- REUTERS