July 25, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1424

DALIAN, July 24: Asian and European ministers representing 2.3 billion people and half the world economy on Thursday ended talks in China with pledges to kick-start stalled global trade talks while the critical issue of the value of the Chinese currency lingered on the sidelines.

The three-day Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) of economic ministers was one of the last international gatherings before the WTO convenes in Cancun, Mexico, in September to revive trade talks that look close to failing.

“The members all agreed that the ASEM countries should actively participate in the WTO negotiations,” Chinese Commerce Minister Lu Fuyuan said at a press conference after the meeting had ended.

“They hope to send a signal to the Cancun meeting, showing their firm commitment to facilitating the new round of trade talks and supporting its success,” he said.

However, in a statement issued at the end of the ASEM discussions, the economic ministers expressed “concerns on the slow advance” on some WTO-related issues.

“The ministers noted in particular that some important deadlines on the substantial issues had been missed and that this had posed serious concern over the road to the Cancun ministerial conference,” the statement said.

Because of the missed deadlines, Cancun will mark a last-ditch effort to get global trade talks back on track and have them completed by the end of 2004, as the WTO originally planned when it met in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.

“Clearly, time is short and hard work will be needed in order to achieve the right balance between all WTO members’ interests and to fuel the necessary energy into this very heavy process,” EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy told the ministers.—Reuters