APEC agrees to promote co-op on trade, environment

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-09 16:38

The leaders also issued a final leaders' declaration, promising to demonstrate strong leadership in pursuing the region's long-term prosperity. Key elements of the document include agreements to strengthen regional economic integration and build pro-business environment. The leaders also agreed in the document to enhance human security in the region.

A stand-alone statement on the Doha round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations was also issued after the meeting, reaffirming the leaders' support for the multilateral trading system and their determination to bring the negotiations to an early and successful conclusion.

The leaders made an urgent request to all countries involved in the Doha process to renew their efforts to achieve an outcome, stressing agriculture and industrial products as the two priority areas.

The leaders pledged in the statement "the political will, flexibility and ambition to ensure the Doha Round negotiations enter their final phase this year."

The annual meeting of Pacific-Rim leaders is a forum of the highest level in the Asia-Pacific region, with this year drawing the presence of such prominent figures as Chinese President Hu Jintao, US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Founded in 1989, APEC is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. APEC represents the most economically dynamic region in the world, with its 21 member economies spanning four continents and accounting for approximately 40 percent of the world's population, 56 percent of world GDP and 48 percent of world trade.

The 21 member economies are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

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