Trade ministers from the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation member countries are looking beyond the Doha Round negotiations to examine ways to boost trade across the region, though they maintain that the struggling multilateral talks remain their top priority.
At a 5-6 July summit in Cairns, Australia, the ministers repeated their call for progress in the WTO negotiations. Similar appeals have been a standard feature of APEC summits in recent years.
A larger section of the joint communiqué released at the end of the meeting focused on how the liberalisation and facilitation of trade and investment across the region could help create "an enabling environment for economic growth." The ministers said that they discussed "the possibility of developing a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) as a long term prospect," and agreed to examine the implications of a region-wide accord.

The ministers also endorsed a new trade facilitation plan that will aim to reduce trade-related transaction costs by a further 5 percent by 2010. These efforts will focus on customs procedures, standards, e-commerce, and the mobility of businesspeople.

Read the full text of this news from the BRIDGES weekly, or click here to access the communiqué of the trade ministers.