Apec leaders meeting in Hanoi this weekend will issue a strongly worded statement calling on members of the World Trade Organisation to wrapped up the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks, a Thai official said yesterday.

However, the Foreign Affairs official said, it remained uncertain whether the statement would include a deadline for ending the talks, which are scheduled to end next year.

After the senior officials' meeting ended here on Monday evening, the official said the leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation would issue a statement calling on WTO members, especially the major players, to reassess their negotiating stances so that talks can resume as soon as possible. Official spent the past few days drafting statements that will be considered by the Apec ministerial meeting that starts today.

Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram and Commerce Minister Krirk-krai Jirapaet arrived in Hanoi yesterday to attend the meeting. The week of Apec meetings will end with the leaders' summit over the weekend.

The Foreign Affairs official said Apec members agreed that the conclusion of the Doha Round was their top priority, despite Washington's proposal to launch an Asia-Pacific free-trade area.

Apec members also agreed to streamline the organisation. A chief operating officer will be appointed to run the organisation.

A proposal to extend the term of Apec's executive director to

three years did not, however, win unanimous approval. The position now lasts for one year and is filled by an official appointed by the country that hosts the annual Apec meetings that year.

The Foreign Ministry official said some members felt that extending the term to three years would make Apec look more like an international organisation rather than the loose, consultative forum it was intended to be.

Officials have agreed on the draft Hanoi Action Plan, which clarifies Apec's goals by allocating specific assignments for improving the organisation's operations to each member as well as the Asia Pacific Business Advisory Council.

To harmonise regulations, Apec members endorsed model measures for countries to adopt in bilateral free-trade agreements. They agreed on the rules for technical barriers to trade, transparency, cooperation and rules of origin. The model measures, however, are not binding.

Members also agreed to treat Washington's proposed free-trade area as a long-term goal that should complement targets set by the World Trade Organisation and Apec's so-called Bogor Goal. The latter calls for free trade between Apec's developed members by 2010. Developing members are expected to remove barriers to trade and investment by 2020.

The foreign ministry official said senior officials would recommend that Apec leaders treat Washington's proposed free-trade area as an agenda option for discussion, though it would be up to the 21 leaders to decide how prominent a place it was given in their discussions.

Jeerawat Na Thalang

The Nation

Hanoi