CEBU, the Philippines, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said here Friday that the ASEAN leaders have agreed to adopt the World Trade Organization (WTO) Stand-Alone Statement pushed by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which will reinforce the region's commitment to fair and liberal global trade.

    "The statement will reiterate ASEAN's commitment to the Doha Round and to attaining an ambitious and balanced overall outcome, "Romulo said at a press conference at the Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort and Spa.

    The 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

    He also said that the world's major trading powers, including ASEAN's Plus Three Partners -- China, Japan and South Korea -- must show their political will to move the Doha development round of talks forward.

    "I emphasized that all parties, but especially the major trading powers, including the Plus Three Partners, must have the political will to move forward from current positions in order to revive the Round," Romulo added.

    Negotiations on the Sixth Doha development round of talks in Geneva were suspended indefinitely last July because of the refusal of the United States and other industrialized countries to cut down subsidies to their farming sectors.

    Developing countries wanted the developed nations to remove their agricultural subsidies that have resulted in trade distortions and made their products artificially cheaper.

    According to WTO's recent World Trade Report, the total amount of subsidies worldwide has reached 300 billion U.S. dollars, 250 billion U.S. dollars of which come from the developed countries.