APEC Trade Officials Urge Early Launching of Multilateral WTO TalksTrade officials and representatives of APEC economies sent Tuesday a strong message to the world, saying that they support the formation of a multilateral trade system and the early launching of a new round of WTO talks.In a news briefing before the opening of the APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT), He Ning, director of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), said it is a common aspiration of all participants that the upcoming APEC MRT Meeting will promote the regional economic development and world trade development by pushing forward the process of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and strengthening economic and technological cooperation in the region. The 2001 APEC MRT, scheduled for June 6-7, is to focus on strengthening economic and technological cooperation among APEC members so as to jointly deal with the looming economic slowdown in some of the APEC member economies. More than 420 trade officials, representing all the 21 APEC economies, have arrived in Shanghai for the meeting. Representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat and Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) will attend the meeting as observers. |
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