APEC may set course for trade liberalization<\/p>\n
CANBERRA (AFP): Leaders of the 18 Asia Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) countries are likely, but not certain, to set
\na course for regional trade liberalization at their November
\nconference, Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
But details of any agreement, including suggested moves to
\nturn the forum into a trading bloc -- preferential or otherwise
\n-- would take years to evolve and mattered little at the moment,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"It is simply not an issue which needs to be finally resolved
\nat this stage,\" he told reporters here.<\/p>\n
Evans was speaking at a news conference attended by Japanese
\ncorrespondents and AFP on the eve of his departure for the
\nAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual meeting, at
\nwhich he will be a dialogue partner.<\/p>\n
He said Canberra was attracted by ASEAN's proposal last year
\nthat Australia and New Zealand, joined by a formal economic
\nrelationship, should join the ASEAN Free Trade Association (AFTA)
\nin expanded market, which would be \"a healthy development for the
\nachievement of free trade.\"<\/p>\n
The AFTA plan, which would bring together two economic
\ngroupings of equivalent size, was still in an early stage,
\nrequiring detailed discussion over a long period and may be
\ndiscussed in the corridors of the ASEAN meeting.<\/p>\n
The six ASEAN nations -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore and Thailand -- are APEC members along
\nwith Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia,
\nMexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Taiwan, the
\nUnited States and, later this year, Chile.<\/p>\n
Bloc<\/p>\n
Recent reports have suggested the APEC leaders are to consider
\na plan to turn the forum into a powerful new trading bloc with
\nsome similarities to the original European Common Market.<\/p>\n
The proposal, which has the potential to turn APEC into a
\ndiscriminatory trade bloc, was prepared by APEC's Eminent Persons
\nGroup of government appointed politicians and economists
\nresponsible for developing a blueprint for its future.<\/p>\n
Evans said the proposal dealt with the final shape of a
\nprocess that had not yet begun and which would take many years to
\ncome to fruition.<\/p>\n
As a result of agreement at the Seattle leaders' summit last
\nyear, APEC was working on its trade facilitation agenda, which
\nincludes measures such as mutual recognition of qualifications,
\ninvestment codes and guidelines producing common rules.<\/p>\n
\"That is all in place and that work is starting to be done
\nvery effectively and in a period of time we'll start to get
\nresults,\" Evans said.<\/p>\n
But the move within APEC to get regional free trade had been
\ndiscussed and was on the agenda for further discussion by the
\nAPEC leaders' meeting in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I think that at the November leaders' meeting, with input
\nfrom the ministers and input from the Emminent Persons Group,
\nthere is a good chance, not absolutely certain, that APEC will
\nmove to defining some kind of free-trade objective,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/apec-may-set-course-for-trade-liberalization-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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