APEC Trade, Foreign Ministers Call on Leaders to Finalize FTAAP Study in 2016

LIMA (Sputnik) — The ministers of trade and foreign affairs of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) urged the forum's leaders in a joint statement on Friday to finalize a Collective Strategic Study on the issues related to the launch of the Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) before the end of this year.

"We recall that APEC Leaders mandated a Collective Strategic Study on Issues Related to the Realization of the FTAAP, along with any Recommendations, in the Beijing Roadmap in 2014 and instructed officials to finalize the Study and report to Leaders by the end of 2016," a joint statement of APEC Ministerial Meeting said.

According to the statement, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to advance the process toward the eventual realization of the FTAAP as a major instrument to further APEC´s regional economic integration agenda toward and beyond the so-called Bogor Goals for realizing free and open trade in the Asia-Pacific agreed by member economies in 1994.

Based on the study's recommendations, the ministers also instructed APEC officials to further develop and implement the work programs in areas identified and to report on their progress at the Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in May 2017.