2007年VOA标准英语-APEC Hopes to Revive Stalled World Trade Talks

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
03 September 2007

Asia-Pacific leaders will press for an urgent revival¹ of stalled world trade talks when they meet this week in Australia. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum² (APEC) has opened in Sydney, and trade and commerce are dominant³ themes of discussion. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group is responsible for about half of all world trade. Its members hope to use their combined economic muscle to revive the Doha round of the World Trade Organization talks.

To do that, this week's APEC forum will urge the main trading nations to make crucial concessions⁴ on trade barriers.

The Doha negotiations⁵ on trade liberalization began in 2001 and have stalled over barriers to farm trade and imports of manufactured goods.

The United States and the European Union accuse each other of doing too little to reduce barriers on farm imports.

Many developing nations and Australia also are urging greater farm trade liberalization, while the U.S., the E.U. and other developed nations want large emerging economies, including Brazil and India, to open their markets to more industrial imports.

APEC leaders think the WTO talks have the potential to create a freer and fairer global market, particularly for the poorest nations.

Delegates also will look at ways to expand trade among APEC's 21 members.

Australian economist⁶ Stephen Harcourt says making trade flow more easily is crucial.

"It's about trade facilitation, that is standardizing⁷ customs and so on, and the World Bank says that could be worth about $440 billion so there's certainly a lot of gains to be made. Basically standards across the region, customs, basically streamlining procedures, and just making it a lot easier to get goods and services, you know, through, APEC countries [and] across borders," said Harcourt. 

There are also hopes that this week's APEC summit in Sydney will see progress in creating a Pacific-wide free trade zone, stretching from Chile to China.

Canada suggested an APEC free trade area in 2004 and the United States has become an enthusiastic supporter of the idea.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum began life in the late 1980s as an organization committed to trade liberalization. Business and commerce remain fundamental to APEC, although this year's conference in Australia's biggest city will also concentrate on climate change.

APEC's members include China, Japan, Russia and the United States, along with smaller economies in Asia and Latin America.

1 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

4 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 standardizing   

使合乎规格，使标准化( standardize的现在分词 )； 规格化

参考例句：

• These composite indices are derived by standardizing each of its component series. 这些综合指数是使通过把它们的组成部分中的各个数列标准化而获得的。
• Significant progress was made in rectifying and standardizing nonbank financial institutions. 整顿和规范非银行金融机构取得重要进展。