Headed by Minister Pehin Dato Abdul Rahaman Taib of Industry and Primary Resources, the Brunei delegation is the first of the 21 arriving delegations to participate in the MRT Meeting scheduled to open Wednesday.

In an interview with Xinhua upon arrival, the minister described the 2001 MRT Meeting as an important event, saying that he hoped the meeting would make more progress on the basis of the previous meetings of trade ministers. Brunei wished to expand economic ties with other APEC member economies, especially China, he said.

The APEC 2001 MRT Meeting is the first ministerial-level meeting of APEC organized by China this year. The meeting, aiming to make preparations for the APEC informal leadership meeting also to be held in Shanghai this fall, is expected to focus on promoting trade and investment liberalization, economic and technical cooperation and the early launching of a new round of WTO talks.

Delegations of the most APEC member economies are expected to arrive in Shanghai before Tuesday, local official sources said.

(Xinhua 06/04/2001)