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ndonesia will use the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit that it will host next month to lobby its peers in a bid to gain a meaningful commitment to advance the preparatory talks for the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting scheduled for year'€™s end.

Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said on Thursday that the summit might serve as a decisive moment for the success of the 159-member global trade governing body'€™s meeting in Indonesia in December.

At the last meeting of APEC ministers responsible for trade in April in Surabaya, East Java, attendees threw their weight behind Indonesia'€™s goal of delivering success at the upcoming Bali summit.

'€œThere will be a ministerial meeting attended by [WTO director general] Roberto Azevêdo. At the same time, we also plan to carry out meetings to help us achieve consensus on three packages we set as deliverables,'€ Gita said.

At the WTO meeting in December, Indonesia aims to attain three deliverables '€” trade facilitation, agricultural and least-developed countries (LDCs) packages '€” which other fellow members also consider vital to revive the long-deadlocked Doha Round trade talks and restore confidence on the negotiating function of the global commerce body.

In its latest check of the negotiations'€™ progress in early July after the fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade in Geneva, Switzerland, the trade minister said he garnered a brighter outlook on the pace of talks, as a few key members representing developed and developing countries had shown a change of attitude to meet a balance of interests.

This was particularly expressed by 46 developing countries, including Indonesia, allied under the G33 Group, that mulled an interim solution for an agricultural package to bridge the gap of interests before reaching the final goal.

The agricultural package with a proposal on public stockholding, which aims to raise the limits for subsidized food stockpiles, has so far been one of the key sticking points slowing the pace of ongoing talks.

Gita said as preparation ahead of sideline discussions at the APEC meetings, he would meet with Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma next week to discuss the agricultural package.

'€œThe key to progressing talks on the three packages lies in the agreement between India and the United States on stockpiling,'€ said Gita, referring particularly to trade facilitation, which relates to issues like relaxation of custom procedures to ease cross-border flows of goods.

Meanwhile, a few small group discussions by negotiators had already kicked off in Geneva this week after a summer break, the Trade Ministry'€™s director general for international trade cooperation, Iman Pambagyo, said.

'€œTheir focus will be to complete a draft agreement on trade facilitation and the agriculture proposal,'€ he said.

On Monday, new WTO director general Azevêdo launched a '€œrolling set of meetings'€, which would come in a variety of formats and configurations at the ambassador level, aimed at bolstering the chances for success at the Bali ministerial meeting.

In his inaugural speech to the WTO General Council, he said that his full priority would be to ensure a successfully negotiated outcome at the ninth ministerial conference.

'€œWe must send a clear and unequivocal message to the world that the WTO can deliver multilateral trade deals. That'€™s why success at the Bali Ministerial Conference is vital '€” this has to be our first priority,'€ he said.