Although the ministers still have today to make progress in arriving at a common approach to the WTO negotiations, the draft ministerial joint statement does not reveal any encouraging signs.
The personal presence of WTO Director General Pascal Lamy to brief trade and foreign ministers about the latest WTO developments is unlikely to prove very helpful.
The strong American pressure is also not helpful, including a firm expectation on the part of United States President George Bush that this APEC summit will result in a major breakthrough to end the deadlock.
"Basically, all of us agree that we have little time left. We are in a critical situation and need to resolve the deadlock, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu told Indonesian journalists on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting.
Reflecting on the position of developing countries, the minister added that "It is proper and fair if the developing countries ask the advanced countries to give more concessions to the former. We want to emphasize this point."
The minister laughed when asked why APEC had not been able to make any progress on the WTO over the last three years.
"We have also been asking the same question. What is the difference between our current stance compared to three years ago?" Mari remarked.
According to the draft joint statement of the 19th APEC Ministerial Meeting, the ministers expressed support for the WTO and the multilateral trading system.
"An open, rules-based, multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), with an ambitious and balanced outcome, provides the best means for sustaining economic growth," the ministers say in the draft.
The APEC leaders are expected to issue "a stand-alone" statement on the WTO issue. But, as APEC is a non-binding forum, the statement will have no legal consequences.
In the draft communique to be issued after the leaders' summit on Sept. 9, the leaders will sound out the establishment of a free-trade area amid the stalled global trade talks, but said they would not admit India to APEC before 2010.
The forum's 21 leaders, meeting in Australia this week, will also announce plans to strengthen intellectual property rules and agree to develop a common set of food safety principles, the draft communique says.
A 2006 initiative on what has been dubbed the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, or FTAAP, will be explored further "through a range of practical, incremental steps," the draft says.
"Free-trade arrangements play a valuable role in accelerating trade and investment liberalization and in bringing our countries closer together," the draft reads.
APEC said it was "greatly concerned by the lack of progress" in the Doha round of global trade talks.
"It's a hard issue to get done," U.S. President George W. Bush was quoted as saying Wednesday by Bloomberg. "We can get it done if we show flexibility when it comes to making sure this round is as successful as possible."
Trade officials from 151 nations resumed the Doha round talks in Geneva this week, aiming to reconcile differences over agricultural barriers and access for imported goods in developing markets such, as India and Brazil.
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