The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum must accelerate its efforts to liberalize trade and investment, APEC business leaders said Tuesday.

In a report submitted to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, the APEC Business Advisory Council urged each of the APEC member economies to speed up the pace of liberalization to achieve open and free trade and investment.

The "Report to APEC Economic Leaders" says APEC's members have not made sufficient efforts to meet their own goal of achieving liberalization by 2010 for developed nations and by 2020 for developing countries.

"We worry if the member economies can meet the goal within their deadlines," Toru Kusukawa, an ABAC member and chairman of the Board of Counselors at Fuji Research Institute Corp., told a news conference. "But we will continue to give APEC our support."

ABAC is comprised of three business leaders from each of the 21 APEC member economies.

On the Asian financial crisis, the report states that although economic recovery is taking place, APEC members must further promote financial reform and corporate restructuring.

"The financial crisis stemmed from basic economic structural problems, so each (member) nation needs to reform its industrial structure, corporate scheme and financial system," said Kusukawa.

He also said that close cooperation between trade and finance ministers of APEC member nations would lead to the recovery of the region's economy.

For open trade and investment, the report calls on member nations for a number of recommendations and measures in specific sectors, including action on the establishment of an APEC export subsidy-free zone for food products, drawing rules for electric commerce, and liberalization of international air services.