APEC Trade Ministers' Meeting - Pucón, Chile, June 4-5: Progression of WTO Negotiations and FTAs/RTAs on the Agenda

Ministers Responsible for Trade from APEC Member Economies will meet in Chile on June 4-5 to discuss major issues affecting the global economy.

This will be the 10th meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade and will follow on from the last meeting in Khon Kaen, Thailand, in 2003.

Key issues to be addressed at the Pucón meeting include APEC support to reinvigorate the World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda negotiation process, trade related security issues and the relevance of Free Trade Agreements and Regional Trade Agreements (FTAs/RTAs) in the APEC process.

APEC recognizes the importance of reinvigorating the current WTO round. As a forum of economies representing around half the world's trade and 60% of global GDP, APEC recognizes that it has a particularly important role to play in this process.

On the issue of trade security, the capacity of all APEC Member Economies to implement security measures is an important issue for the APEC process. Recent meetings of the Secure Trade in the APEC Region (STAR) Conference and the APEC Counter Terrorism Task Force have produced recommendations for ministers to consider in this area.

The expansion of FTAs/RTAs agreed by APEC Member Economies has led to substantial discussion on how these relate to APEC's free trade and investment goals. At the direction of APEC Leaders in 2003, a policy dialogue on FTAs/RTAs is taking place in Pucón on May 30. The results of this dialogue will be presented to ministers for consideration.

Media intending to cover the Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade are reminded to register at the APEC Chile 2004 Website before they arrive in Pucón: http://registration.apec2004.cl/