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Pacific rim officials talk terrorism
( 2002-10-23 16:57 ) (7 )

Delegates to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) forum set an agenda of terrorism, trade and technology for foreign and economic ministers who begin meetings Wednesday.

Wrapping up a two-day conference on Tuesday, delegates from the 21 APEC members completed their recommendations to their ministers, who will meet Wednesday and Thursday. Heads of state from the member economies are holding a summit over the weekend.

The meetings were all held behind closed doors, but Japanese government officials said the delegates agreed that the agenda would focus on fighting terrorism, cooperation among APEC members' customs officials to halt the flow of terrorists' supplies and preparations for the World Trade Organization conference in Mexico in September 2003.

During the ministerial meeting, each APEC member will present its progress on fighting cyber-terrorism, money laundering and transportation security, the Japanese officials said.

They spoke only on condition of anonymity, and other member delegates did not speak to the news media about Tuesday's discussions.

Nonetheless, officials said they held out high hopes for the meeting.

"We hope that this meeting will become a bridge between America and Asia," Mexican Economy Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said at a dinner for journalists.

Mexican President Vicente Fox flew to Los Cabos to inaugurate the summit's media center, but flew back to Mexico City and planned to return at the end of the week when the other heads of state arrive.

"Although it is important and indispensable to grow our economies, make more trade, that is not the goal," Fox said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The goal is to combat poverty, to include vulnerable groups in development. The goal is to improve the quality of life for the families and people in our countries."

The heads of state were scheduled to hold retreats on Saturday and Sunday, but forecasters warned that a tropical storm off Mexico's southern coast could turn toward this beach resort by the weekend in the form of a powerful hurricane.

In Miami, the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Kenna is likely to reach hurricane strength by the weekend and could strike the Mexican mainland or Cabo San Lucas by Saturday.

As it did during last year's APEC meeting, the fight against terrorism was overshadowing the usual topics of free trade and investment. In recent years, APEC has begun to take a political focus as trade issues are increasingly taken up at the World Trade Organization, to which most APEC members belong.

Since the terrorist attacks against the United States last year, the threat of terrorism has grown into a major topic at APEC.

This year's meeting comes after a deadly explosion on the island of Bali in Indonesia and attacks in the Philippines.

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