Intrigue, fatigue, main course

By Warren Gamble

The Apec entree has already been full of international intrigue, but Aucklanders with summit fatigue will have to make room for the main course as world leaders arrive today.

After the distraction of bilateral meetings today, including the superpower summit between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and US President Bill Clinton at Government House late this afternoon and discussions on East Timor, the leaders will get down to Apec's core business of trade tomorrow.

They will be officially welcomed by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley and a powhiri by Ngati Whatua at the Carlton Hotel in the afternoon before holding an agenda-setting meeting.

In reality, many of the issues have been thrashed out by senior officials and trade ministers, leaving the leaders to confirm a series of regional tariff initiatives they hope to shape the World Trade Organisation agenda later this year.

Mr Clinton yesterday emphasised that one of his most important goals was to get a commitment from all Asian-Pacific partners to "rapid, wide-ranging market opening" for December's WTO meeting in Seattle.

The leaders will decide on a communique at a retreat at the Auckland Museum on Monday. Apec's non-binding, consensus approach means all have to agree to the final declaration which Mrs Shipley, as the meeting chairwoman, will announce to the world.

They will also finalise New Zealand's key initiative - a package to strengthen financial markets in the region's economies, some of which were exposed during the Asian crisis. New Zealand's third theme needing leader sign-off is a series of advances on economic and technical cooperation.