Deutsche Welle, 7 October 2013
Leaders
from Asia-Pacific nations and territories have gathered on the Indonesian
island of Bali to attend the APEC summit . Notable by his absence is US
President Barack Obama.
The leaders
from the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) were
expected to discuss reducing trade and investment barriers and speeding up
regional economic integration and infrastructure development.
Opening the
summit, which is taking place under high security, Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday called for closer cooperation in the region.
"We
all feel the pain of the crisis," Yudhoyono said. "It is therefore
important to develop closer cooperation towards accelerating economic growth
and global recovery."
Among the
leaders attending are Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe and new Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Russian President
Vladimir Putin was expected to arrive on Monday
Obama
cancellation
However, US
President Barack Obama, who had hoped to use the summit to iron out issues
regarding the free-trade pact he is promoting, the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP), cancelled his attendance at the summit because of the current US
government shutdown over a Congress budget row. He is being represented at the
summit by Secretary of State John Kerry.
Despite
Obama's absence, twelve APEC members were expected to continue work on the
pact, which the US president sees as underlining a US "pivot" towards
Asia as a counterbalance to China's increased influence in the region.
The twelve
members involved in the TPP talks on the sidelines of the APEC meeting are the
United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei,
Vietnam, Chile, Canada, Mexico and Peru.
US
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker told reporters in Bali on Sunday that
delegates had reached agreement on several thorny issues in the proposed pact.
The US hopes to secure a deal on the TPP by the end of the year.
In addition
to the countries listed above, other APEC members include China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Chinese
Taipei and Thailand.
tj/hc (dpa, AFP, AP)
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