Hu outlines need for regional stability

By Sun Shangwu (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-20 05:11

HANOI: President Hu Jintao urged members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) to seek peaceful solutions to conflicts to create a stable environment for development.

"When disputes and problems occur that may affect regional stability, we need to enhance trust, remove misunderstanding, reduce differences and defuse conflicts through dialogue, consultation and negotiation and seek peaceful resolution of such disputes and problems," he said.

His remarks on Saturday at the first session of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting came in the wake of the nuclear crisis in the Korean Peninsula, sparked by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear test early last month. China, as host of the Six-Party Talks, advocates dialogue to solve the problem.

Hu asked all members to crack down hard on terrorism and transnational crime of all forms and pay special attention to addressing their root causes.

In response to deep-rooted structural problems hindering economic and social progress in the region, Hu urged developed APEC members to act with long-term interests in mind and take effective steps to narrow the development gap and promote common prosperity.

"This concerted effort will help to achieve comprehensive, co-ordinated and sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific economy," he noted.

The Chinese President called for win-win co-operation to handle global and regional challenges.

The Asia-Pacific still faces issues such as high energy prices, imbalances in economic development and major communicable diseases, according to Hu.

"Common challenges often create opportunities of co-operation. We should seize opportunities, meet challenges, expand common interests and strive for win-win progress," he said.

He told APEC leaders to "be open and inclusive" because there are a number of regional and sub-regional co-operation mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We should support their parallel development so as to foster in the Asia-Pacific an environment of co-operation that is open and inclusive and that thrives on diversity. We should also be open towards mechanisms in other regions and be committed to open regionalism," he added.

Leaders of the 21 member economies of APEC began their annual meeting in Hanoi on Saturday to facilitate free trade and promote sustainable development in the region.

During the close-door meeting, the leaders approved a Hanoi Action Plan for implementing the Busan Roadmap towards the Bogor Goals.

APEC leaders in 2005 developed a blueprint in Busan, South Korea, for improving trade and investment facilitation measures. According to the Bogor Goals set out in 1994 in Indonesia, free and open trade and investment in the APEC region will be achieved by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.

President Hu said that APEC should play a greater role in the following areas:

First, support the development of the multilateral trading system. A stable and healthy multilateral trading system is crucial to the growth of both the global economy and the economy of the Asia-Pacific.

"Should the Doha Round of negotiations fail, no country will gain any benefit," said Hu. "The top priority now is to resume negotiations swiftly, reach agreement on key issues and deliver in good faith the commitment that the Doha Round is a round of development."

Second, strive to meet the Bogor Goals, which chart the future course of APEC and are a criterion for gauging the performance of the organization. China supports the Hanoi Plan of Action aimed at attaining the Bogor Goals as scheduled.

Third, enhance economic and technical co-operation, which is an important means to narrow the development gap and promote common prosperity.

In recent years, a number of new problems and challenges have emerged in areas of financial security, energy security and public health security. Many APEC members lack adequate experience and capacity to respond to them.

"We should increase input, make our co-operation more effective and focused and help developing members of APEC improve their international competitiveness and their capacity to meet challenges," he added.

(China Daily 11/20/2006 page2)