Business leaders upbeat on APEC after 2-day forum<\/p>\n
By Prapti Widinugraheni and Meidyatama Suryodiningrat<\/p>\n
MANILA (JP): Business leaders from the Asia Pacific Economic
\nCooperation (APEC) forum ended a two-day business forum here
\nSaturday with a renewed vision on APEC.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging APEC's benefits for business, delegates
\nsaid they were responsible for building an "APEC community".<\/p>\n
Kenneth Lindhorst, a delegate from United States-based AT&T,
\nsaid the APEC Business Forum (ABF) had helped businesspeople see
\nthat each country in APEC could choose how far and how fast it
\nwanted to go.<\/p>\n
"In APEC, every member economy still has its own sovereign
\nrights, but at the same time their governments are aware that
\nincreasing cooperation is positive both for the government and
\nthe business sector," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
A Filipino delegate, Jesus Estanislao, said the forum reminded
\nbig business that APEC should also help small and medium
\nenterprises.<\/p>\n
"The last thing (Philippine President Fidel Ramos) wants to
\nsee is APEC being hijacked by big businesses," he said on Ramos'
\nspeech to open the ABF.<\/p>\n
Ramos told the executives on Friday that "the APEC vision is
\nabout improving people's lives".<\/p>\n
"Liberalizing and facilitating trade and investment alone
\ncannot do... We need to develop a culture for solving problems
\ntogether out of a deep sense of obligation to build a community
\nof APEC economies," he said.<\/p>\n
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
\nKong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
\nGuinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand
\nand the United States.<\/p>\n
APEC aims to achieve regional free trade and investment,
\nsetting 2010 and 2020 as deadlines for developed and developing
\ncountries respectively.<\/p>\n
Roberto Romulo, the chairman of the APEC Business Advisory
\nCouncil, said ABF helped businesspeople understand that APEC
\n"does indeed have a future".<\/p>\n
"It will also make them realize that they must work hand in
\nhand with the government," he said.<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who addressed the
\nforum's closing ceremony on Saturday, said it was "unrealistic
\nand grossly unfair" to coerce APEC's less-advanced member
\neconomies to undertake liberalization measures at a pace and
\nmanner "beyond their capacity".<\/p>\n
"APEC must never result in poor member countries becoming more
\nand more dependent on richer members," he said.<\/p>\n
APEC members' economies have been growing 7.6 percent yearly
\non average. Trade within the region has grown about 87 percent in
\nthe last five years, and its exports make up 44 percent of the
\nworld's total.<\/p>\n
Mahathir called for stronger development cooperation within
\nAPEC, saying it had "not been given the attention it deserves".<\/p>\n
"Liberalization alone will not succeed if it is not
\naccompanied by development cooperation," Mahathir said.<\/p>\n
He said poorer economies could not be considered ready to
\nliberalize their markets until they had become exporters, and
\nwere benefiting from their own raw materials.<\/p>\n
"It is understandable that business executives are impatient
\nwith the slow rate of progress in liberalization, harmonization
\nand cooperation, and want political leaders to share their sense
\nof urgency. Still business leaders must understand that political
\nleaders must do what is best for their respective economies as a
\nwhole," Mahathir said.<\/p>",
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