APEC expected to lead global trade liberalization<\/p>\n
By Vincent Lingga<\/p>\n
BEIJING (JP): Asia-Pacific businesspeople, scholars and
\nofficials associated with the Pacific Economic Cooperation
\nCouncil (PECC) asked their governments yesterday to lead global
\ntrade liberalization.<\/p>\n
It is most imperative for the leaders of the Asia Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum to adopt ambitious, but
\nrealistic, action plans for trade and investment liberalization
\nin the region, PECC asserted in a statement issued at the end of
\nits three-day 11th General Meeting here yesterday.<\/p>\n
The PECC, a non-governmental organization which was set up in
\n1980 to promote cooperation in the Pacific Rim, issued the
\nBeijing Statement to supplement the recommendations it submitted
\nto APEC senior officials in Sapporo, Japan, in July.<\/p>\n
\"By taking unilateral actions to accelerate trade
\nliberalization beyond the requirements of the World Trade
\nOrganization (Uruguay Round commitments) APEC will be in a
\nstronger position to take the lead in the global dismantling of
\nobstacles to trade and investment,\" the statement said.<\/p>\n
The PECC considers it crucial for the forthcoming APEC summit
\nin Osaka to adopt an action agenda for concerted unilateral trade
\nliberalization in order to maintain the momentum of the six-year
\nAPEC cooperation process.<\/p>\n
The organization, however, cautioned that APEC should continue
\nto uphold the guiding principles of open regionalism, equality
\nand evolution.<\/p>\n
It noted that APEC could learn much from economic cooperation
\nexperiences elsewhere, but the concepts cannot be simply
\ntransplanted into the dynamic and diverse Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\n
\"We want APEC to be a new model of regional integration, quite
\ndifferent from the European Union and the North American Free
\nTrade Agreement,\" PECC said in the Beijing Statement entitled
\nOpen regionalism for global prosperity.<\/p>\n
The Asia-Pacific model of regional cooperation will show that
\nit is possible to strike a harmonious balance among the
\nobjectives of strengthening an open multilateral trading system,
\nregional trade liberalization, facilitation and development
\ncooperation, the statement noted.<\/p>\n
PECC reaffirmed its suggestion that the action plans of APEC
\ngovernments need to go well beyond the elimination of tariffs and
\nquotas. They must also address obstacles to international trade
\nand investment arising from differences in domestic policies and
\nregulatory systems or product standards, as well as lack of
\ntransparency.<\/p>\n
The dangers of the insidious growth of non-tariff barriers to
\ntrade and investment was pinpointed by Singapore's Minister of
\nState for Trade and Industry and Communications Goh Chee Wee who
\naddressed the PECC morning session yesterday.<\/p>\n
Goh cited high technical standards on imports, anti-dumping
\nmeasures, labor standards and domestic policies, such as
\ngovernment procurement practices, as some of the new barriers
\nbeing encountered in international trade.<\/p>\n
\"Worse still, some countries have resorted to bilateral
\nmeasures against multilateral norms and mechanisms,\" Goh said,
\ncautioning that such actions may give others the impression that
\nthere are two sets of rules, one for the big players and another
\nmore onerous one for everyone else.<\/p>\n
Goh called on APEC to act quickly and decisively to implement
\ncomprehensive trade liberalization and facilitation as a model
\nfor the outside world.<\/p>\n
Jusuf Wanandi, chief of the Indonesian delegation to the PECC
\nmeeting, concurred that a positive example would enable APEC to
\ninitiate a new round of multilateral trade negotiations at the
\ninaugural ministerial meeting of the WTO in Singapore in
\nDecember, 1996.<\/p>\n
The PECC also sees further strengthening of APEC's non-binding
\ninvestment principles as vital for allowing Asia-Pacific
\ngovernments to take the lead in devising multilateral principles
\nto promote international investments.<\/p>\n
APEC, launched in Canberra in November 1989, groups 18
\neconomies which together have a combined gross national product
\nof about US$13.5 trillion. It accounts for 46 percent of the
\nworld's trade and 56 percent of the world's output.<\/p>\n
The PECC represents 22 member economies, of which Australia,
\nBrunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South
\nKorea, Malaysia. Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United
\nStates are also members of APEC.<\/p>\n
Peru, Vietnam, Russia and the South Pacific Forum are the
\nother four members of the PECC.<\/p>\n
Facilitation -- Page 11<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/apec-expected-to-lead-global-trade-liberalization-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }