APEC free trade plan needs private sector help<\/p>\n
By Endy M. Bayuni<\/p>\n
OSAKA, Japan (JP): The success of APEC's plan to move towards
\na free trade zone in the Asia-Pacific hinges to a large extent on
\nsupport from the private sector, Indonesia's Coordinating
\nMinister for Industry and Trade Hartarto said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a symposium on the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) forum, Hartarto said the benefit of trade
\nliberalization \"will be rendered more effective if the private
\nsectors among the APEC members create synergy.\"<\/p>\n
\"Private sector participation in the APEC process should not
\nbe focused merely on its direct involvement in APEC fora, but
\nalso directed in promoting synergy among business players in the
\nregion,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The one-day symposium was jointly organized by the Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation Council and the Pacific Basin Economic
\nCouncil, both institutions that have contributed to the
\ndevelopment of APEC and its programs.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, APEC leaders meeting here were scheduled to endorse
\nan \"Action Agenda\" setting out the details of how APEC's 18
\nmembers plan to go about in moving towards establishing a region
\nof free trade by the year 2020 at the latest.<\/p>\n
One of the outcomes of last week's APEC ministerial conference
\nwas a plan to establish an APEC Business Advisory Council which
\nwill formally bring the private sector into the APEC's processes
\nfor the first time.<\/p>\n
\"With the adoption of the 'Action Agenda' ... the
\nparticipation of the business sectors in the APEC process even
\nbecomes more urgent than ever before,\" Hartarto said.<\/p>\n
He also pointed out that greater synergy among APEC's private
\nsectors would also help the effort in narrowing economic
\ndisparities among APEC members and lead to better allocation of
\neconomic resources within the region.<\/p>\n
Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, in the same
\nsymposium, said APEC has spent the last six years on exchanging
\ninformation, analyzing issues, formulating objectives and
\ncrafting frameworks for action.<\/p>\n
\"None of that time has been wasted; none of that effort was
\nunnecessary. But it is now time to really start getting the runs
\non the board -- delivering the benefits which APEC is eminently
\ncapable of generating,\" Evans said.<\/p>\n
Gains<\/p>\n
He said Australia has conducted studies estimating the
\npotential gains to be had from trade liberalization and
\nfacilitation measures and found that:<\/p>\n
* The aggregate income of the region will increase by 3.8
\npercent, or US$745 billion, which is more than the combined
\ncurrent size of Australia's and Korea's economies, more than 10
\ntimes Malaysia's and more than a half of China's.<\/p>\n
* Trade facilitation alone will increase aggregate income in
\nthe region by 2.2 percent, or $442 billion.<\/p>\n
Acknowledging that some may have doubts about the assumptions
\nused in the economic projections, Evans said \"Nobody should be in
\nany doubt that there will be benefits, they will be very large
\nindeed and they will be shared by all of us.\"<\/p>\n
Japanese Minister of International Trade and Industry Ryutaro
\nHashimoto in his address promised the business community in APEC
\nthat trade liberalization is just the start and that other
\nmeasures that will assist in their business are on the way.<\/p>\n
Among examples of works, or study, now underway in APEC,
\ninclude the possibility of providing a single multiple-visa for
\nthe entire APEC region, or the same documentation for patent
\nprotection for all APEC countries, a single product standard
\ncertification and a single Internet site providing tariff
\nschedules for different products throughout the region.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, we cannot do all of this overnight. Yet having
\nbeen involved in the APEC process over the last year, I can tell
\nyou that there are already people working on things like this.<\/p>\n
\"And I can promise you that the Asia-Pacific region will be
\nradically different in five or 10 years from what it is now in
\nterms of business and personal mobility,\" Hashimoto said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/apec-free-trade-plan-needs-private-sector-help-1447893297",
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