The first three were of the Market Access Group (MAG), the World Trade Organisation Capacity Building Working Group (WCBWG) and the Group on Services (GOS), and a preparatory meeting drew the participation of heads of delegates to the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) meeting.

The two-day APEC Study Centers Consortium (ASCC) meeting and the public-private dialogue on trade facilitation began their last session on March 24. The Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG) discussed in three groups opinions presented at the two previous meetings. The Informal Experts Group on Business Mobility (IEGBM) entered their third day of discussions.

At the ASCC meeting, delegates heard a report presented by researcher Dr Kui Wai Li from the City University of Hong Kong on the impacts of the APEC economy's openness and the internal strengths on its growth and the global integration of all economies in the world. All the inner factors of an economy will decide the level and effectiveness of its global integration, he stressed.

The participants also heard Filipino experiences on the above issues, presented by Ms. Jenny D. Balboa from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. The Philippine team also put forward an anti-corruption strategy. Also in the morning of May 24, the ASCC meeting heard speeches by the Thai and Peruvian delegations on enhancing tourism and cultural exchange and raising mutual understanding among the APEC community.

The WCBWG meeting heard reports on projects to improve APEC member economies' capacities for joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), including an APEC training course held in central Da Nang city last March. Its delegates also discussed their WTO-related contribution to the statement of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting.

In the meantime, the MAG discussed how APEC accelerates the WTO Doha negotiations, sample terms for regional trade agreements and free trade agreements (RTAs/FTAs), agricultural action programmes and the capacity to organise a seminar on software and data for trade negotiations.

VNA