News Releases
Fact Sheets
Speeches
Webcasts and Podcasts
APEC@Work
APEC E-Newsletter
News Alerts Subscription
You Are Here:
Home
>
News and Media
> APEC Senior Officials Set Work Plans for APEC 2007 Australia
APEC Senior Officials Set Work Plans for APEC 2007 Australia
Issued by the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting
Canberra, Australia, January 21, 2007
APEC Senior Officials have wound up their first meeting for 2007 with a wide-ranging discussion of world trade negotiations and key regional economic issues.
APEC officials reaffirmed the importance they attach to a successful outcome to the Doha round of world trade negotiations and agreed to remain vigilant in identifying opportunities to support the multilateral trade system.
They welcomed the news that the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was considering sending a delegation of members to Geneva and other capitals to express concern at the lack of progress in the negotiations.
Senior Officials have begun preparing a second-phase Trade Facilitation Action Plan with the aim of reducing business costs across the Asia Pacific region. The plan calls for concrete measures to lower overall business transaction costs in areas such as customs, standards, competition policy, intellectual property rights, business mobility and e-commerce.
Officials also discussed ways and means of promoting further regional economic integration with the aim of preparing a report to APEC Leaders who will meet in Sydney in September. The report will also look at the proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) as a long-term prospect.
Senior Officials also discussed the issues of structural reform, energy security, health issues and counter-terrorism.
Senior Officials discussed the timetable and the objectives of the six sectoral Ministerial meetings that are scheduled in the lead-up to the APEC Minister's Meeting and APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in September.
The calendar for Ministerial and Leaders meetings in 2007 is as follows:
Ministers Responsible for Mining Meeting, 12-16 February, Perth
Small and Medium Enterprise Ministerial Meeting, 4-9 March, Hobart
Transportation Ministerial Meeting, 28-30 March, Adelaide
Energy Ministerial Meeting, 27-30 May, Darwin
Health Ministers' Meeting, 7-8 June, Sydney
Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, 4-6 July, Cairns
APEC Ministerial Meeting, 5-6 September, Sydney
APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, 8-9 September, Sydney
Details are available at www.apec.org.
For further information, please contact:
Christopher Hawkins
on +61 (0)433 810 844 or E-mail: ch@apec.org
Anita Douglas
on +61 (0)420 945 613 or E-mail: ad@apec.org
APEC 2007 website
