AlHijjah 16, 1432, Nov 12, 2011, SPA - Asia-Pacific trade and foreign ministers held talks Friday on expanding free trade, promoting environmentally friendly growth and removing trade barriers. The ministers had made "extraordinary efforts" to develop policies designed to stimulate "green growth," open markets and regulatory convergence, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said after co-chairing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministers' talks. "We obviously believe that the world's strategic and economic centre of gravity will be the Asia-Pacific for the 21st century," Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying by the German Press Agency "DPA". She said the United States wanted to "lock in a substantially increased investment" in diplomatic, economic, strategic and other links to the Asia-Pacific over the next decade. Negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free-trade pact between the United States and eight smaller APEC economies were "moving quite well," Hillary Clinton said. "At the same time, we're trying to promote environmentally sustainable growth, green industries, new opportunities to secure energy efficiency and energy security, and that, too, is an ongoing commitment," she said. US President Barack Obama is scheduled to host talks on the TPP initiative on Saturday before a series of bilateral meetings and a dinner for the APEC leaders. Obama will also host a summit on Sunday, when the 21 APEC leaders will discuss policy recommendations made by the ministers on Friday.
