VOA慢速英语20061124a

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - APEC Meeting Pushes for Continued Trade NegotiationsBy Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, November 24, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders ended without announcement of major policy changes among APEC members. However, the leaders did say they were ready to make changes in their negotiating² positions to help restart world trade talks. They also said North Korea is a major concern, but stopped short of strong condemnation³.


APEC leaders, at their meeting in Hanoi, called for restarting the Doha round of world trade talks

This was the fourteenth official meeting of government leaders from economies in East Asia and nations around the Pacific Ocean. The two-day meeting was held in Vietnam, a nation recently admitted to the W.T.O. The meeting ended on November nineteenth.

In a final statement, the leaders expressed a strong desire to continue the Doha series of W.T.O. talks on trade reform. The leaders said they would propose deeper cuts in government aid to farmers. Poor nations say such aid drives down the price of agricultural goods.

The leaders stated they would cut import taxes on industrial goods. They offered to open their markets to more trade in agriculture and services, like banking⁴. APEC urged other countries to join it in offering more trade reforms. APEC agreements do not have the force of law.

President Bush pressed the other leaders on the issue of North Korea's nuclear program. Six-nation talks on the program have not moved forward since last year. The North Korean nuclear test last month has not helped the situation.

Mister Bush urged APEC members to obey United Nations Security Council Resolution Seventeen-Eighteen. That resolution calls for action against North Korea, and urges it to return to the nuclear disarmament talks. All the nations involved in those talks are APEC members, except for North Korea.

The president also proposed a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific as a long-term goal for the group. Mister Bush won a trade agreement with Central American and Caribbean nations last year.

The APEC leaders' meeting was one of several meetings held in Hanoi. Earlier, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice led the American team to the eighteenth APEC Joint⁵ Ministerial Meeting. Ministers agreed to push forward with trade reforms known as the Bogor Goals to be completed in five to ten years. They also agreed to cooperate in areas such as security and health.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 negotiating   

n. 谈判 动词negotiate的现在分词

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• We want to get all the parties back to the negotiating table. 我们想把有关各方拉回到谈判桌上来。

3 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。