[h=3]By ENDA CURRAN[/h]PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—World leaders will push to conclude a major U.S.-led trade pact known as the trans-Pacific partnership, or TPP, by October 2013, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Tuesday, in a boost for one of the U.S.'s key policies.
The move comes even as Asian governments start separate talks on one of the world's biggest trade pacts that doesn't include the U.S., and as Japan, China and South Korea begin their own trilateral talks.
"There's an ambition arising from today's meeting to have an agreement reached by October 2013, by the next meeting of APEC," Ms. Gillard told The Wall Street Journal in an interview in Phnom Penh after the conclusion of the annual East Asia Summit and meetings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. APEC is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade forum.
Warning of an "acute risk" of protectionism from governments amid a slower global growth environment, Ms. Gillard said there's new momentum to finalize the trans-Pacific partnership.
"We will have a strong focus on securing an ambitious agreement in the trans-Pacific round," Ms. Gillard said. In an effort to prod the process and ward off the rival talks, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted discussions on the trade round with the Asia leaders gathered here.
First launched in 2005, the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership includes a raft of smaller Asian countries plus Australia, New Zealand and others—but not China. The TPP has been hampered by disagreements over the treatment of state-backed enterprises, among other things.
At the same meetings here, 16 countries including China, Japan, India and Australia launched separate negotiations to establish the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which officials say will allow a greater flow of goods and services and avoid a "noodle bowl" of overlapping deals.
Officials hope to have the talks for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which doesn't include the U.S., concluded by the end of 2015.
Speaking at the end of a summit dominated by territorial tensions over the South China Sea, Ms. Gillard backed a push led by the Philippines and others for a so-called code of conduct to be agreed, which would set out a broad framework to govern the waters.
"We do have an interest as a trading nation that uses these maritime routes that any disputation is resolved peacefully, and we do believe it would be appropriate for there to be a code," she said.
The South China Sea area, which is crossed by more than half the world's total trade and is thought to contain vast energy and mineral reserves, is broadly claimed by China and in part by such nations as Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The dispute comes amid unease among some Asian countries at China's efforts to increase its influence in the region—at a time the U.S. is seeking to do the same.
Beijing has previously opposed efforts to settle disagreements at multilateral forums, saying it prefers to handle them bilaterally.
On the domestic front, the Australian prime minister said she is standing by her government's economic forecasts—including a promised budget surplus this fiscal year—even though a slowdown in the mining sector is hurting government revenue and dragging down growth.
She described a possible move by the International Monetary Fund to include the Australian dollars in its official currency reserves as a "tribute," but that the exchange rate's strength—which remains well above parity against its U.S. counterpart—is hurting the nonmining sectors and forcing through structural change.
"Increasingly it has been apparent to us that our currency is increasingly being viewed as a safe-haven currency and that there is huge demand for Australian dollar-denominated assets," she said.
And Ms. Gillard, who faces a battle to hold onto office at the next election scheduled for 2013, is confident the economy can maintain its growth, around 3%, given continuing demand for commodities from Asia. "You don't want to mistake the waves for the great tidal moves underneath," she said.
Write to Enda Curran at [email protected]
The move comes even as Asian governments start separate talks on one of the world's biggest trade pacts that doesn't include the U.S., and as Japan, China and South Korea begin their own trilateral talks.
"There's an ambition arising from today's meeting to have an agreement reached by October 2013, by the next meeting of APEC," Ms. Gillard told The Wall Street Journal in an interview in Phnom Penh after the conclusion of the annual East Asia Summit and meetings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. APEC is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade forum.
Warning of an "acute risk" of protectionism from governments amid a slower global growth environment, Ms. Gillard said there's new momentum to finalize the trans-Pacific partnership.
"We will have a strong focus on securing an ambitious agreement in the trans-Pacific round," Ms. Gillard said. In an effort to prod the process and ward off the rival talks, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted discussions on the trade round with the Asia leaders gathered here.
First launched in 2005, the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership includes a raft of smaller Asian countries plus Australia, New Zealand and others—but not China. The TPP has been hampered by disagreements over the treatment of state-backed enterprises, among other things.
At the same meetings here, 16 countries including China, Japan, India and Australia launched separate negotiations to establish the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which officials say will allow a greater flow of goods and services and avoid a "noodle bowl" of overlapping deals.
Officials hope to have the talks for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which doesn't include the U.S., concluded by the end of 2015.
Speaking at the end of a summit dominated by territorial tensions over the South China Sea, Ms. Gillard backed a push led by the Philippines and others for a so-called code of conduct to be agreed, which would set out a broad framework to govern the waters.
"We do have an interest as a trading nation that uses these maritime routes that any disputation is resolved peacefully, and we do believe it would be appropriate for there to be a code," she said.
The South China Sea area, which is crossed by more than half the world's total trade and is thought to contain vast energy and mineral reserves, is broadly claimed by China and in part by such nations as Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The dispute comes amid unease among some Asian countries at China's efforts to increase its influence in the region—at a time the U.S. is seeking to do the same.
Beijing has previously opposed efforts to settle disagreements at multilateral forums, saying it prefers to handle them bilaterally.
On the domestic front, the Australian prime minister said she is standing by her government's economic forecasts—including a promised budget surplus this fiscal year—even though a slowdown in the mining sector is hurting government revenue and dragging down growth.
She described a possible move by the International Monetary Fund to include the Australian dollars in its official currency reserves as a "tribute," but that the exchange rate's strength—which remains well above parity against its U.S. counterpart—is hurting the nonmining sectors and forcing through structural change.
"Increasingly it has been apparent to us that our currency is increasingly being viewed as a safe-haven currency and that there is huge demand for Australian dollar-denominated assets," she said.
And Ms. Gillard, who faces a battle to hold onto office at the next election scheduled for 2013, is confident the economy can maintain its growth, around 3%, given continuing demand for commodities from Asia. "You don't want to mistake the waves for the great tidal moves underneath," she said.
Write to Enda Curran at [email protected]