SHANGHAI, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Asia-Pacific ministers, seeking to reverse a global economic slowdown and boost trade, returned to a dialogue of financial issues Tuesday at a regional summit that has been plagued by concerns over security, war and terrorism.
Despite a lack of clear initiatives or viable fiscal policies, foreign and trade ministers attending the 13th annual meeting of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Shanghai pledged on Wednesday to make fighting the worldwide recession a priority in discussions over the next two days.
The ministers released a draft of a document saying that the economic slump in the United States, Japan and Europe had already "dampened" prospects for growth in Asia, several months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The statement called on APEC members to "strengthen cooperation" in economic matters.
"Ministers affirmed their confidence in the medium-and long-term prospects of growth in the APEC region and agreed to strengthen cooperation to tackle the short-term economic difficulties," the statement said, falling short of any new proposals for fighting the global slowdown.
The document, which is likely to be revised over the next few days, calls for a loosening of regional fiscal and monetary policies to boost the global economy.
"It is particularly important for major economies to take timely and decisive policy actions to stabilize markets, boost global demand and facilitate an early pick-up in global economic activity," the statement said.
APEC leaders, who will meet over the weekend, are also likely to endorse the launching of a new round of trade talks under the World Trade Organization. China is expected to enter the WTO after more than 15 years of negotiations.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said Wednesday that there was a renewed sense of urgency among APEC ministers to re-energize global trade talks, which had stalled during previous negotiations.
APEC ministers are expected to endorse the Bogor Goals, which are part of an agreement reached during a 1994 summit in Indonesia. The proposal aims to boost free trade and foreign investment in the Asia-Pacific region over the next 10 to 20 years, and bridge gaps between developed and poorer nations.
However, critics say APEC -- a grouping of diverse economies and political systems, ranging from wealthier countries such as the United States and Japan to poorer Papua New Guinea and Indonesia -- is unlikely to approve any comprehensive plan to deal with the world's sagging economy.
"There will be no concrete proposals put forward during the meetings," said one APEC delegate. "But recognizing the problems is a good place to start."
The attacks in the United States and the ongoing war in Afghanistan have forced global security and terrorism issues squarely onto the agenda of a forum that has spent the past 12 years working to free trade, strengthen economies and promote foreign investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
President Bush, who will meet Chinese President Jiang Zemin for the first time, is expected to use the APEC summit to work on strengthening the international coalition against terrorism, despite many assurances from Washington that he will discuss trade and economics.
APEC leaders will also be asked to endorse a counter-terrorism agreement, proposed by the U.S. and China, aimed at cracking down on international money laundering, a member of the Australian delegation told United Press International.
Still, analysts said discussion of the global economic slowdown is equally as important as a dialogue on anti-terrorist efforts.
"If we are going to avoid the long-term effects of an economic slump in other regions of the world, Asian countries need to devise concrete solutions to the current problems," said Wang Jiang, an economics professor at Shanghai Normal University, who will attend several of the APEC meetings.
"It's time to deal with the serious economic issues," Wang said.
Even China, which has posted strong growth for several years, faces major obstacles escaping a worldwide global slowdown unscathed, he said.
China has been keeping a watchful eye on the economic slowdown in the United States, after its economic growth slowed significantly in the third quarter of this year. China's export growth has slowed this the year, as demand for Chinese-made products has weakened.
On Tuesday, China released figures showing its economy had weathered the global slowdown by posting impressive growth of 7.6 percent for the first nine months of this year, even though the rate of expansion was slowing.
In the third quarter this year, China's gross domestic product grew 7 percent, down from a growth of 8.1 percent in the first quarter and 7.8 percent in the second. It was the country's lowest quarterly growth since 1999, but it still ranked it among the world's highest.
It should be noted, however, that analysts have in the past posed serious questions over Chinese output figures, which appear remarkably quickly after the quarter's end for such a huge economy (U.S. figures are still 10 days from being released.)
Adding to the economic concerns, a report released Wednesday by the World Bank said the terrorist attacks will hurt more-impoverished nations in East Asia by stalling the region's recovery from its current economic slowdown.
"This recovery is at a much slower rate compared to the trend in the region before the 1997 crisis," the report stated.
Other Asian economies such as Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea have been hit hard by the global technology slump in the U.S., the report said.
