Asia Pacific Resources: Appointment of New CEO and Proposed New Directors for Board.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2002

Asia Pacific Resources Ltd. (OTCBB:APQCF)(TSE:APQ)(FRANKFURT:APQ)(STUTTGART EXCHANGE SYMBOL:APQ) is pleased to announce the appointment of John Bovard as its Chief Executive Officer, effective March 1, 2002, and the designation by Olympus Capital Holdings Asia of new directors for appointment to the Board after conversion of the Company's debentures into equity.

New CEO 

Mr. Bovard was identified after a thorough screening of prospective candidates from around the world. He has 35 years of experience in mining and project development and corporate management. Mr. Bovard was the project manager for the successfully completed A$800 million Queensland phosphate fertilizer project for WMC Resources Ltd. prior to serving as General Manager-Resources with Multiplex Constructions Pty. Ltd. He also managed the Porgera and Ok Tedi Projects in Papua New Guinea, the Superpit in Western Australia and numerous smaller-scale developments in gold, copper and industrial minerals, and spent several years managing an integrated rural development and construction program in Thailand. Mr. Bovard has served as an executive director for several public mining companies in Australia and the United Kingdom. He has an engineering degree from Sydney University. He will be based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Mr. Bovard replaces Robert Connochie. The Company wishes to thank Mr. Connochie for his service as CEO.

New Directors

Olympus Capital, which will become the controlling shareholder after conversion of its debentures, has informed Asia Pacific Resources that it will nominate Richard Knight and Lee Graber as non-executive directors. Messrs. Knight and Graber will join Daniel Mintz and Edan Lee, both Managing Directors of Olympus Capital, on a seven-person Board of Directors.

Richard Knight has extensive experience in all phases of the resource industry and across a broad spectrum of commodities. He has held a series of senior positions with North Limited, a major diversified resources company based in Australia, including CEO at Energy Resources, a publicly listed subsidiary, and Executive Director positions in both development and operations at North. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of The Iron Ore Company of Canada.

Lee Graber's background spans the mining, oil and gas, and international construction industries. Most recently, he held the position of Vice President - Corporate Development at Homestake Mining Company. Mr. Graber has wide experience negotiating and completing merger, acquisition, and joint venture agreements worldwide. He has served on managing boards of public and private companies, and joint ventures, in the resource sector.

"We are very pleased to have an executive of John Bovard's calibre and dedication to lead the Company at this critical time," said Daniel R. Mintz, Founding Managing Director of Olympus Capital. "We also believe that we have assembled a strong Board consisting of directors who have complementary skills and experience. Olympus Capital has demonstrated its commitment to support the Company and firmly believes these changes will set Asia Pacific Resources on the right course."

Rights Offering Financing

The Company has now mailed to all shareholders, residing in jurisdictions in which the Company may legally do so, the Rights Offering documents which include the Prospectus and Rights Certificates described in previous press releases. Such jurisdictions include Canada, the United States, Australia and several European and Southeast Asian countries.

The rights are now trading on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "APQ.RT" and will remain open for exercise until April 1, 2002.

Under the terms of a previously agreed Support Agreement, Olympus Capital and Crew Development Corporation are providing interim financing to the Company to a maximum amount of CDN$ 1 million. The new management of Crew Development has affirmed its commitments to the Company and intends to fund its CDN$ 5 million contribution to the rights offering as soon as practicable. Olympus Capital has previously confirmed its commitment to fund its CDN$ 5 million contribution concurrently with the Crew funding.

Somboon Project

The Company is developing the two million tonne per annum Somboon potash mine near Udon Thani in northeast Thailand. When completed this project will be one of the world's largest potash mines. Future developments are likely at the Udon deposit, which may be roughly three times as large as Somboon.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Robert G. Connochie, President

The information provided in this news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbour provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on Asia Pacific Resources Ltd.'s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainty that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward looking statements.