U.S. President George W. Bush, outlining his vision for U.S. engagement in Asia, will urge Asian leaders to revive stalled world trade talks and give «serious consideration» to the idea of an Asia-Pacific free trade area. Bush, launching a three-country swing through Asia, was to deliver an address at the National University of Singapore on Thursday to detail ways the U.S. and Asia are partnering to fight poverty, disease and terrorism. A day before he heads to Hanoi for a summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, he will call for «serious consideration» to be given to the idea of an APEC-wide free trade zone that would stretch across the Pacific and envelope about half the world's trade, it said. The idea was first proposed by APEC's business advisory council two years ago as a way to harmonize the dozens of bilateral and regional free trade agreements around the region. A Japanese official said Wednesday that the proposal will be set aside for study until a regional meeting next year in Australia, the Associated Press reported.
