New Zealand former Prime Minister and former World Trade Organization Director-General Mike Moore said on Monday that the APEC leaders should take practical measures to achieve real progress for the WTO Doha Round negotiations.
Moore told Xinhua from Auckland that the APEC leaders should be concerned that previous APEC goals have been missed. More than a decade ago
they agreed to free trade within developed member economies by 2010 and developing economies by 2020.
Since then, "a complex web of other bilateral and regional deals have emerged, all create trade diversion, special privileges emerge, new barriers
to those outside these agreements are inevitable," said Moore who recently launched his new book "Saving the Globalization" at the Parliament Building in Wellington.
"They should not be called free trade agreements but preferential trade agreements. None tackle in depth the hard issues of agriculture, none have a binding disputes mechanism," he added.
Moore, who described himself as a "China fan", said he felt most proud that China entered the WTO trade system during his term as WTO
secretary-general. China has been committed to the WTO obligation, regulations and law since it entered the WTO system, he added. Moore also
spoke highly of China's role in world economy.
He said the Chinese economy and world economy are closely linked. If China's economy slows down, world economy will also slow down.
In today's globalization, it is natural to have trade disputes between countries.
"It is important that they seek arbitration and settle disputes within the WTO framework," said Moore.