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| APEC officials agree on more cooperation in anti-terror |
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Senior officials from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members agreed in principle Tuesday on more cooperation in finance, customs and other business areas in the fight against terrorism.
During their two-day discussions, senior officials from APEC's 21 members focused on the battle against terrorism and prepared for a ministerial meeting slated for Wednesday and Thursday and the 10th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting on October 26-27.
APEC leaders pledged to fight terrorism together in a statement issued last year when they met in Shanghai, China, shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.
The battle against terrorism will be again a major theme of this year's meeting, which takes place after the deadly terrorist bombing on the Island of Bali in Indonesia killed more than 200 people.
The delegates condemned the recent attacks in Indonesia and they agreed to deepen cooperation in economic sectors in the fight against terrorism, sources said.
US President George W. Bush will attend the economic leaders' meeting and push for greater participation of the Asian countries in the anti-terror campaign.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said in Canberra on Tuesday that during the meeting he will discuss with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri progress in the search for the culprits behind the Bali bombing.
Meanwhile, senior APEC officials also discussed other topics like trade facilitation and tech cooperation. A Chinese official told Xinhua that the delegates also focused on the implementation of agreements reached in Shanghai last year.
"Officials agreed to facilitate the global multi-lateral trade talks launched last year in Doha under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO)," the official said.
The new round of trade talks has been aimed at assisting the developing countries in economic growth by promoting trade. However, little progress has been made so far.
APEC, set up in 1989, now groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Editor: Zhao Xuan
Source: Xinhua
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