1. The 2001 APEC Trade Ministers Meeting was held in Shanghai, China, from June 6 to 7, 2001. Trade 
Ministers and government representatives from the 21 APEC member countries, including Mike Moore, WTO 
Secretary General, as a guest speaker, participated in the Meeting. The Korean delegation was led by Mr. 
Hwang Doo-yun, Minister for Trade. 

2. The Meeting focused on ways for APEC to contribute to launching the New Round of WTO negotiation this 
year. Moreover, the current status of this year’s major activities of APEC was discussed along with the 
following issues: 
- ways to promote trade and investment liberalization and human capacity building in the Asia-Pacific region 
- economic and technical cooperation sectors, such as bio-technology 
- new economy, e-commerce, and strengthening market functions 

3. Other plans to be reported to the Shanghai Summit Meeting in October were also discussed. Regarding 
the New Round of WTO negotiations, Trade Ministers agreed to make best efforts to launch the New Round 
at the Qatar WTO Ministerial Conference scheduled from November 9 to 12, 2001. Ministers agreed on the 
basic principle that a balanced and comprehensive agenda must be prepared beforehand, so that the 
interests of all WTO member countries, especially developing countries, are incorporated into the agenda. 
The following actions for APEC’s contributions to the New Round have been agreed upon. 

● Self-restraint with trade protectionist measures until the WTO Ministerial Conference in Qatar in 
November. Accordingly, Ministers reconfirmed the extension of the grace period for tariffs on e-commerce 
until the WTO Ministerial Conference. 
● Special treatment for developing countries and continuous efforts in capacity building and technical 
support for their active participation in the WTO. 
● Call for the completing China’s accession to the WTO this year and support the membership of Taiwan, 
Russia, and Vietnam to the WTO Trade Ministers reconfirmed that the Individual Action Plans (IAP) are 
important tools for achieving the Bogor Goals. They also agreed to continuously improve the electronization 
of the IAP and prepare the new e-IAP this October to be reported to the Summit Meeting in October. 
● Recognizing that there has been progress in revising the Osaka Action Agenda (OAA) to adapt it to the 
changing international and regional economic environment for achieving the Bogor Goals, Ministers agreed 
to reach an agreement by the Summit Meeting in October. 
● Emphasizing that trade facilitation is as important as trade liberalization and endorsed the Principle on 
Trade Facilitation which was prepared by member countries. 
● It is expected that accomplishments in trade facilitation and the OAA revision will further strengthen 
APEC’s trade and investment liberalization and facilitation efforts. 

4. In order to strengthen economic and technical cooperation, Trade Ministers agreed to develop the Ecotech 
Action Plans (EAP) and have the EAP to be submitted to the Ministerial Conference and Summit Meeting in 
October. The Trade Ministers Meeting also welcomed the initiative on Human Capacity Building and 
requested that specific strategies be developed for capacity building. Regarding agricultural products 
developed by biotechnology, the Korean delegation raised the importance of consumer protection which 
Korea’s major interest, and incorporated it in Statement of the Chair. Ministers welcomed the establishment 
of the e-APEC Task Force which will implement the New Economy Action Plans that were adapted at the 
Summit Meeting last year. They commended the efforts made so far in formulating an e-APEC strategy for 
building a digital society within the Asia-Pacific region. They agreed on the need for specific measures for 
developing e-commerce and Paperless Trading. 

5. Mr. Hwang Doo-yun, Minister for Trade, had bilateral meetings with trade ministers of the US, China, and 
Chile prior to the Trade Ministers Meeting. At the meetings, he discussed cooperating plans to launch the 
New Round of WTO negotiations and to liberalize trade and investment liberalization through APEC as well 
as bilateral trade issues. 


                                                             Spokesperson of MOFAT

* unofficial translation