APEC wants free trade in 2020<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A special task force of the Asia-Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum yesterday handed President
\nSoeharto their report which calls for establishing an Asia-
\nPacific free trade region by the year 2020.<\/p>\n
C. Fred Bergsten, the chairman of APEC's Eminent Persons Group
\n(EPG), delivered the report which will serve as a proposed
\nguideline for the forum's future outlook.<\/p>\n
\"The President emphasized that the EPG report will be used as
\na point of reference for the leaders,\" said Minister\/State
\nSecretary Moerdiono following the meeting at Soeharto's residence
\non Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Established during the 1992 APEC Ministerial Meeting in
\nBangkok, the EPG was created to provide a working framework for
\nthe forum's future.<\/p>\n
It consists of 16 intellectuals and experts from APEC members,
\nof whom Indonesian and Japanese representatives, Suhadi
\nMangkusuwondo and Ippei Yamazawa, respectively, were also present
\nat yesterday's meeting.<\/p>\n
Despite acknowledging the President's shared view towards an
\nopen and free trade region, Moerdiono quickly warned against
\npremature speculation on policies, since the matter would not be
\ndecided until the Nov. 15 APEC Leaders Economic Meeting (ALEM) in
\nBogor.<\/p>\n
APEC groups the United States, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, South
\nKorea, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand
\nand Canada along with the members of the Association of Southeast
\nAsian Nations (ASEAN) -- Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the
\nPhilippines, Brunei and Indonesia which currently chairs the
\nforum.<\/p>\n
Free Trade<\/p>\n
Bergsten also asserted that the forum must forefront a push to
\nliberate the global trading system.<\/p>\n
\"It is essential for APEC to take the lead to begin moving
\nforward the process of further reduction of barriers,\" noted
\nBergsten, who is also the Director of the Washington-based
\nInstitute for International Economics.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Suhadi Mangkusuwondo also stressed this necessity
\nwhen he said, \"the main thrust of our report is for APEC leaders
\nand ministers to adopt a long term goal of free and open trade in
\nthe region.\"<\/p>\n
In a 42-page report released worldwide yesterday, the EPG
\ncalls for comprehensive free and open trade by the year 2020.<\/p>\n
The report outlines the initiative of a trade liberalization
\nprogram among members beginning in the year 2000 with a
\ncompletion deadline of 10 years for industrialized countries, 15
\nyears for newly industrializing nations and 20 years for
\ndeveloping ones such as Indonesia.<\/p>\n
However, as stipulated in the report and reiterated by
\nBergsten, the EPG seemed confident that if adopted, the
\nliberalization process would probably accelerate before the
\ndesignated target year.<\/p>\n
Outward<\/p>\n
Elaborating on APEC's regional free trade area, Bergsten
\nunderlined that Asia-Pacific should not become a closed inward-
\nlooking regional forum as is the tendency in many parts of the
\nworld today.<\/p>\n
\"We want to counter that risk through the APEC forum
\ndeveloping an outward-looking regionalism,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Both Suhadi and Bergsten said that the current set of
\nproposals, entitled Achieving the APEC Vision, is a continuation
\nof the EPG's first report presented prior to the 1993 inaugural
\nALEM on Blake Island, Seattle, the U.S., last November.<\/p>\n
They said that the second report contained more concrete
\nguidelines for implementing the concepts presented in the Seattle
\nmeeting.<\/p>\n
Among the items highlighted in the report are trade and
\ninvestment facilitation, an APEC Dispute Mediation Service (DMS),
\ntrade liberalization and technical cooperation.<\/p>\n
\"The Dispute Mediation Service is given high priority in this
\nyear's report,\" said Japan's EPG representative Ippei Yamazawa.<\/p>\n
The function of the DMS is designed to complement the rules
\nand procedures for the settlement of disputes to be implemented
\nby the World Trade Organization (WTO).<\/p>\n
Yamazawa explained that the DMS would channel bilateral
\ndisputes in multilateral directions in cases which fall outside
\nthe competence of the WTO.<\/p>\n
When queried on the initial reactions of APEC governments
\ntowards the newly published report, Bergsten remarked that it was
\nstill too early to tell since it had only been distributed two
\ndays earlier.<\/p>\n
\"We do not expect it to be accepted or rejected as a
\nwhole...that would be expecting too much,\" he said. (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/apec-wants-free-trade-in-2020-1447893297",
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