BANGKOK: Pacific Rim nations opened their annual meeting yesterday with plans to push for a restart of stalled global trade talks.

APEC leaders will use the summit to urge WTO (World Trade Organization) members to bounce back from the recent collapse of trade talks in the Mexican resort of Cancun, said Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin said the APEC leaders would "give priority" to restarting the WTO talks "because the world is watching what APEC can do after the Cancun failure."

While this year's tightly-guarded gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum is expected to tackle dramatic global issues like the Iraq crisis, the war on terror and nuclear fears on the Korean Peninsula, trade liberalization remains the core issue for the 21 APEC economies.

Hundreds of policemen secured the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre where the meeting is taking place, with delegates, journalists and staff checked thoroughly before being let inside after passing through metal detectors.

APEC's stated goal is for free trade and investment among developed members by 2010, and among developing economies by 2020. The grouping has typically voiced support for WTO moves to reduce barriers to global commerce.

Bush is urging others in APEC to boost the fight against terrorism, with the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula a likely focal point for the summit that ends October 21.

With many nations in the region still working hard to bounce back from the SARS crisis, the leaders may also discuss better ways to co-ordinate the fight against infectious diseases.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) struck hardest in Asia, particularly in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

APEC members Canada and Viet Nam also had fatal outbreaks.

Agencies via Xinhua

(China Daily 10/15/2003 page1)