VIENTIANE, 30 September 2005 — Ministers from 14 countries yesterday pledged to shore up energy security in the wake of record oil prices and said they would work toward sealing a world free trade agreement in Hong Kong later this year. The trade and economic ministers from the 10-nation ASEAN block plus China, Japan and South Korea also raised the prospect of an East Asian oil stockpile as a means of combating future oil price shocks.
“The ministers shared a common concern at the soaring oil price on the recovering Asian economy and its negative effects on economic growth,” they said in a statement. Other proposals included a joint impact study with agencies such as the International Energy Agency on the negative economic impact of high oil prices, and energy efficiency and diversification measures.
Japan, the only country in the region to already have its own oil stockpile, said it was taking seriously the threat posed to energy security by record costs and potential supply disruptions. Chief of the Japanese delegation Hachiro Okonogi told journalists the process of how to build a stockpile — with prices hovering around $65 a barrel — and where, would now be referred to a working level committee. “This is a matter that we need to discuss further,” he said.
Oil and the World Trade Organization conference to be held in Hong Kong this December dominated talks with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its three, economically powerful, northern neighbors. Issues concerning economic integration, which has witnessed China and Japan vying for influence in Southeast Asia, appeared to have been relegated down the agenda for the time being.
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyen-chong said that given recent global trade developments there was “a commitment to work together to ensure successful outcomes” at the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference. Asked whether he believed the Doha agreement would be implemented, he told AFP: “I am cautiously optimistic that it will.” The ministerial meeting of 148 WTO members on Dec. 13-18 is meant to put the seal on four years of talks launched in the Qatari capital Doha that aim to deliver a comprehensive treaty for free trade by 2006.
The talks ran into a deep impasse in the Mexican beach resort of Cancun in 2003, mainly owing to differences over farm trade and market access for services, and negotiators have been struggling since to get them back on track. The WTO’s failure to hammer out an interim agreement in July has prompted speculation that the December meeting was doomed to failure.
