BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Russian President Vladimir Putin, attending a meeting of Asia-Pacific rim nations, promised to keep his country on the path of economic reform and liberalization.

Putin primarily used the opportunity of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Brunei to showcase his country's achievements and to encourage trade with Russia.

Russia is an APEC member and the Kremlin leader stressed that his country, as a "Euro-Asiatic nation," was intent on furthering its economic links with Asia. He also urged businesses to get involved in the exploitation of Russia's huge mineral wealth in the vast Siberian expanse.

Speaking to businessmen and government officials, Putin added that his country was a fit partner, as it had achieved stability after years of post-Soviet change, and that Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization was a priority.

"We are currently holding bilateral talks with WTO countries," Putin said.

In a concluding statement, APEC members agreed that Russia should be granted WTO membership, but at some unspecified time in the future.

The WTO was hotly discussed at the summit – an issue that drew the attention of developing and wealthy nations alike.

Led by U.S. President Bill Clinton, wealthy nations entered this year's meeting with the hope of urging the WTO to start new talks by 2001.

However, Third World countries led by Malaysia insisted on seeing an agenda first, saying they are tired of being pushed around in the WTO by their wealthy trading partners.

"We share the concern that globalization has its downside, too. Some are being left behind," the host of the Brunei summit, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, said at its conclusion. "Disparities between the rich and the poor continue to grow, and many people are at risk of being marginalized.

"We simply cannot have a world in which the knowledge-based economies are all racing along the information superhighway while less-developed economies struggle with disease, famine and poverty," the sultan said.

The final APEC communique said China should be accepted into the WTO soon, a process now being held up by the lack of a trade pact with Mexico; followed quickly by Taiwan and sometime later by Russia and Vietnam

It also expressed concern over high world oil prices; said the billions of citizens in APEC countries should have access to Internet by 2010; and urged countries recovering from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis to keep up with painful economic reforms that some may be tempted to scrap now that things are looking up.

APEC can only urge the WTO to begin new talks, and after the two-day summit the leaders struck a compromise seeking an agenda first – as poor nations wanted – with talks to start next year, which rich nations had asked for.

APEC members are 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 United States and Vietnam.