The 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum would focus on ways to revive World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks to scrap many trade barriers by the end of the year, said Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Le Cong Phung.

Apec officials had prepared a draft statement that, if adopted by the ministers, would "express their political resolve for the acceleration of the Doha round" of talks launched in the Qatari capital in 2001, he said.

They would make recommendations on overcoming the deadlock to the Doha round, which aims to slash subsidies, tariffs and other trade barriers and use commerce to boost the economies of developing countries.

"The WTO may take or ignore these recommendations, but Apec ministers feel it is important they make their positions known," Phung said in Ho Chi Minh City, where more than 1,000 Apec officials have met for nine days.

Vietnam is not yet a member of the Geneva-based WTO, but a market access agreement it expected to sign with the United States later Wednesday was set to move it a step closer to its decade-old goal.

The deal with its former battlefield enemy, if signed and passed by the US Congress, would mean it has concluded talks with 28 trade partners, a precondition for WTO accession.

Hanoi hopes to be a WTO member when it hosts an APEC summit in November.

The Apec forum -- whose members account for two thirds of global trade -- covers both sides of the Pacific Ocean, including the United States, China, Japan, Russia and Indonesia.

The group operates by consensus, meaning each member's approval is needed to reach a decision, and it only makes non-binding agreements.

In 1994, Apec leaders at Bogor, Indonesia, set the goal of reaching a free trade and investment agreement by 2010 for developed economies and by 2020 for developing economies.

At their summit in South Korea last year, Apec leaders adopted the Busan Roadmap, calling it a "mid-term stocktake which has found that APEC is well on its way to meeting the Bogor Goals."

They also reaffirmed their call for the WTO to meet its Doha deadline.

But since then talks have made little progress, with Washington and Brussels accusing each other of making too few concessions, and developing nations led by Brazil and India telling both of them to make greater cuts.

This has raised doubts on whether enough time remains to agree, sign and deliver a global package to dismantle world trade barriers by the end of the year, a goal that has already been delayed several times.

Vietnam's Phung admitted Tuesday that the goal is "very difficult to reach" and said "I understand that the WTO officials are not very optimistic," although a deal by late 2006 remained the goal.

Washington faces a crucial deadline. The Bush administration is set to lose its "fast-track" trading authority in July 2007, after which Congress can once again pick apart trade laws presented to it.

Apec groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the US and Vietnam.