SHANGHAI, Oct 16: The risks facing the global economy have grown following last month’s attacks on the United States, making a new round of talks to tear down trade barriers more urgent than ever, according to a draft of a statement to be issued by Pacific Rim ministers.

The draft, obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, said a synchronised slowdown in the United States, Japan and Europe had “dramatically dampened” prospects for the Asia-Pacific and global economies even before the deadly September 11 attacks.

But trade and foreign ministers from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, who will meet on Wednesday and Thursday to lay the groundwork for a weekend summit of the 21-member group, said their confidence in the economic outlook was undimmed.

In the face of the less favourable global and regional economic outlook, 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 draft, dated October 7, said.

The draft makes no mention of any new economic initiatives to cushion the sharp economic downturn.

But ministers acknowledged there was now an increased need to re-energise the global trading system by ensuring a successful round of market-liberalization talks is launched when trade ministers meet next month under the umbrella of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

APEC ministers said the November 9-13 WTO conference represented a critical opportunity to launch a trade round.

The previous attempt by WTO ministers to set an agenda ended in fiasco in Seattle in December 1999 when rich countries failed to agree among themselves, let alone with developing nations, on how far and how fast they should drop barriers to global commerce.

The draft APEC declaration tiptoes through the diplomatic trade minefield, calling on everyone to demonstrate strong political will and flexibility in agreeing on a balanced and sufficiently broad-based agenda.

The language synthesises the basic approaches toward a new round staked out by the three main trade camps.

The European Union wants a “comprehensive” round that would break new ground by linking trade to issues such as the environment and investment rules.

The United States favours a narrower round that is nevertheless “broad-based” enough to permit horse-trading in the negotiations, while developing countries, many of which emphasise the implementation of past market-opening agreements, want a “balanced” agenda.

The ministerial declaration is just one of a series of documents due to be finalised at this week’s meetings setting out the priorities of a group that represents 44 per cent of world trade volumes and 60 per cent of global output.

Leaders plan to issue a special statement, drafted by the United States, that condemns the attacks on New York and Washington and proposes tougher action against financial crime, including money laundering.

Their main declaration will include two annexes, according to officials.

One, dubbed the Shanghai accord, will set out an updated roadmap for reaching APEC’s goal of free trade and investment by 2010 for the developed members of the group and by 2020 in the case of developing economies.

To that end, the accord would mark a departure for the consensus-based forum by setting out a “pathfinder approach” that would give the green light to members to open up their markets at a faster pace than others.

It cuts at the heart and soul of APEC, said Lee Chan-Buom, deputy director of the department dealing with APEC at the South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry. “APEC was basically built on joint action, all aboard, all or nothing.

Despite the bursting of the bubble in high-technology stocks over the past 18 months, APEC ministers said new information and communication technologies had immense potential to improve living standards and revitalise the global economy.

The information technology revolution is one of the major forces transforming the world and the APEC region into the 21st century, the draft statement says.

APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. —Reuters