Canada hopes for recognition at APEC forum this year<\/p>\n
By Devi M. Asmarani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Canada hopes to gain worldwide recognition from
\nhosting this year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
\nforum, the country's ambassador to Indonesia, Gary Smith, said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Smith told The Jakarta Post his country looked forward to
\npromoting its potential to the media and the delegates of APEC'S
\n18 members during the one-week event in Vancouver, a port city in
\nthe province of British Columbia.<\/p>\n
"We want to consolidate our position as a leading member and
\nas part of the Asia Pacific community, as half of the world's
\ntrade is done within these 18 countries," he said.<\/p>\n
"This is an opportunity to showcase Vancouver and Canada, our
\ntechnology, organizational skills and our location as a tourist,
\nstudy and business destination," he added.<\/p>\n
He said Canada was an "unknown giant", despite the fact that
\nit was geographically the second largest country in the world and
\nthat its economy was among the world's major ones.<\/p>\n
Canada is hosting the fifth APEC Economic Leaders Meeting and
\nthe ninth Ministerial Meeting from Nov. 19 to Nov. 25.<\/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
The group's two-day senior officials meeting started
\nWednesday, and is followed by ministerial meetings scheduled for
\ntoday and tomorrow.<\/p>\n
The forum's summit, to be attended by economic leaders from
\nthe 18 countries, is scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Smith said Canada had been preparing for the event for two
\nyears. It expected to accommodate over 8,000 participants
\nincluding government officials, business leaders, non-
\ngovernmental activists and media representatives, he said.<\/p>\n
The preparation cost about C$50 million, some $9 million of
\nwhich came from the private sector and the rest from the Canadian
\nfederal government and the city of Vancouver, he said.<\/p>\n
The event is expected to generate over $23 million for the
\nlocal economy, he said.<\/p>\n
Smith said this year's APEC forum would likely adopt two
\nsubjects that have previously not been discussed. These are the
\ncurrency situation in the region and sustainable growth.<\/p>\n
Unlike in previous meetings, this one would be attended by
\ndelegates from economies that had been suffering from currency
\nproblems and reductions in their stock markets this year, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said APEC leaders might discuss the situation and form a
\nconsensus, which would likely be done in support of the
\nInternational Monetary Funds.<\/p>\n
The forum might also come up with an economic crisis
\nsurveillance measure, which would function as an early warning
\nmechanism for similar situations, he said.<\/p>\n
Should such a measure be adopted, countries would watch each
\nother's economies, spot any difficulties emerging, and help find
\na remedy, he said.<\/p>\n
The APEC forum would also focus on environmentally-friendly
\ndevelopment, he said.<\/p>\n
"Discussions will look at how we can grow and at the same time
\nmake sure these burgeoning cities we have are livable," he said.<\/p>\n
The haze caused by forest fires in some of Indonesia's islands
\nwould likely be in the back of delegates' minds during the forum
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said the summit would likely create a proposal for
\nemergency response cooperation within the community.<\/p>\n
The proposal would be a long-term plan among the country
\nmembers to respond to natural and manmade disasters in the Asia-
\nPacific region.<\/p>\n
Smith said Canada was also looking for further implementation
\nof the Bogor objective, which sets a deadline for free and open
\ntrade and investment between APEC members by 2010 for developed
\ncountries and 2020 for developing ones.<\/p>\n
The declaration was established during the APEC 1994 summit in
\nBogor, West Java.<\/p>\n
He said this year's forum would look to further establish
\nearly sectoral trade liberalization by cutting down tariffs of
\ncertain export items.<\/p>\n
Canada, like Indonesia, has avidly supported the inclusion of
\nforestry and fishery products among the items prioritized in the
\nearly trade liberalization lists, he said.<\/p>\n
"Fishery and forestry are two of the areas that Indonesia and
\nCanada are strong in," he said, adding the two countries were
\npushing forward to reduce all related tariffs by no later than
\n2003.<\/p>\n
Canada, New Zealand, the United States and Indonesia also
\nwanted to reduce tariffs on wood products beginning in 1999, and
\neliminating them entirely by 2004, he said.<\/p>",
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