Asia-Pacific finance ministers at their meeting next week will call for increased policy coordination between oil-producing and -consuming states, including the launch of annual dialogue in the International Energy Forum, to curb surging oil prices, according to a draft joint statement.
The ministers from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will also call for ensuring a stable oil supply, promoting new technologies and reducing fuel subsidies in a bid to stabilize record-high oil prices, which have hovered around $70 a barrel, says the draft of the statement, which will be issued after the Sept. 8-9 meeting on Cheju Island, South Korea.
The draft, a copy of which was obtained Friday by Kyodo News, says the ministers want to strengthen producer-consumer tieups through such means as "the establishment of an annual dialogue and flexible ad hoc meetings in the IEF."