BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Foreign and trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) stressed on Wednesday that "significant progress" must be made in next month' WTO ministerial talks in Hong Kong so as to salve the stalled trade talks.

    The Hong Kong talks "would be a critical step in achieving this goal" of successfully concluding the Doha Development Agenda (DDA)negotiations by the end of 2006 "with an ambitious and overall balanced outcome," said a statement prepared by the ministers to be submitted to the APEC member leaders who will gather here on Friday.

    The statement called for a "clear roadmap" to be established for completing the Round in 2006.

    In this regard, the ministers recommended that their leaders adopt a stand-alone statement on the DDA negotiations that "provided strong political leadership and commitment necessary to produce a sound platform for successfully concluding the negotiations in Hong Kong".

    The APEC ministers "reaffirmed their deep commitment to the multilateral trading system and their support for the WTO" and agreed that "APEC economies would continue to make contributions towards the successful outcome of the WTO DDA negotiations".

    Attempt to unlock the tangle in the WTO negotiations would dominate the APEC summit amid mounting gloom over the outcome of the trade talks.

    The statement urged all other WTO members to show flexibility needed to move forward the negotiations by and beyond the Hong Kong talks.

    The APEC statement did not single out any country, although the 25-member European Union, which has refused to impose greater cutsin agricultural subsidies, was believed to be a major block to the conclusion of the WTO round of talks.

    Global trade talks could collapsed if the current impasse over agricultural subsidies and other issues were not resolved, trade experts warned.

    The so-called Doha round of WTO talks, launched in the Qatari capital of Doha in 2001, has bogged down in a bitter dispute over agricultural subsidies which has pitted mainly rich nations against developing nations.

    Developing countries also argue that farm subsidies in rich nations such as the United States and EU countries depress global prices and prevent growers in poor nations from competing.

    The European Union has rejected demands by the United States, Australia and some other APEC members to substantially cut agricultural subsidies. Enditem