APEC leaders are set to turn dream into reality<\/p>\n
By Endy M. Bayuni<\/p>\n
Everything's a dream; Man's ambition is a dream of dreams;
\nWith a big Osaka in my mind, I must disappear like dew. Excerpt
\nfrom a farewell tanka (31 syllable poem) by Hideyoshi Toyotomi --
\nthe first overlord to unify Japan in the late 16th century after
\nmore than 100 years of anarchy and civil wars -- on his deathbed.<\/p>\n
OSAKA, Japan (JP): Some call it a vision, others call it an
\nambitious goal.<\/p>\n
If the above excerpt, found on an ornamental screen which is
\none of the many exhibits in the Osaka Castle, is an indication,
\nAPEC's free trade plan may be the dream of dreams.<\/p>\n
Whether it becomes a reality will, to some extend, be
\ndetermined this Sunday in the castle, which was first built by
\nthe composer of the poem.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the 18 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) forum will gather here tomorrow to discuss
\nways of further bolstering the prosperity of their 2.1 billion
\npeoples by phasing out cross border trade barriers.<\/p>\n
The Osaka Castle, or more precisely the two-story guest house
\nin the castle's compound, is the venue of the third informal
\nmeeting of APEC leaders, or a \"retreat\" as the summit has come to
\nbe called.<\/p>\n
The APEC leaders are due to endorse a blue print on how they
\nintend to turn the Asia-Pacific, already recognized as the
\nfastest growing region in the world, into a free trade zone in
\nthe next 25 years.<\/p>\n
The \"Action Agenda\", as the document is officially called, has
\nalready been deliberated, debated and crafted by their ministers
\nand senior officials over the past year. A consensus on the
\nagenda was only struck on Thursday after long and difficult
\nnegotiations.<\/p>\n
Nobody said it was going to be easy, given the tremendous
\ndiversity and cultural differences between APEC's 18 members,
\nfrom the tiny island state of Singapore and the sultanate of
\nBrunei, to three of the world's four largest nations: China, the
\nUnited States and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Then there is also Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan,
\nSouth Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the
\nPhilippines, Taiwan and Thailand.<\/p>\n
Common interests<\/p>\n
They have a number of common interests. They have become
\nprosperous because their economies are \"market-driven\". Their
\neconomies have become more and more interdependent. And their
\nleaders have agreed that the only course towards greater
\nprosperity is by trading some more, which is only possible if
\nthey remove all tariff barriers in the region.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, in their first summit held in Seattle, the
\nleaders provided the vision of a new Asia-Pacific community. Then
\nlast year, they came out with a declaration of common resolve to
\nliberalize trade when they met for the second time in the
\nIndonesian city of Bogor.<\/p>\n
Here in Osaka this weekend, they are expected to come up with
\nsome sort of a game plan, and to make some \"down payment\" on
\ntheir 1994 pledge to liberalize trade to show that they are
\nserious about their common resolve.<\/p>\n
The informality and the choice of the site for the retreat, as
\nin the past, are expected to help them come to an agreement. In
\nSeattle it was a long Indian house on Blake Island. In Bogor, it
\nwas a grand palace built during the Dutch colonial days.<\/p>\n
Here in Osaka, it's a 16th century castle that has been
\ndestroyed, by fires and bombs and wars several times, each time
\nonly to be rebuilt again.<\/p>\n
With the APEC gathering, it appears now that the castle is now
\nready to create history again.<\/p>",
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