No significant progress on APEC new membership<\/p>\n
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat<\/p>\n
VANCOUVER, Canada (JP): Senior officials of the Asia Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) forum ended their two-day meeting
\nThursday failing to make significant progress on the issue of new
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
Officials in the end decided to leave the question of new
\nmembers pending and let their ministers, who begin their two-day
\nsession Friday (Saturday in Indonesia), resolve the issue.<\/p>\n
\"There was no agreement,\" Indonesian senior official Soemadi
\nBrotodiningrat said.<\/p>\n
He explained that some are holding to last year's agreement to
\nmaintain a moratorium on new members for three years, while
\nothers would like to hasten the process to two years.<\/p>\n
APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
\nKong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
\nGuinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand
\nand the United States.<\/p>\n
The forum aims to break down trade and investment barriers by
\n2010 for developing countries and 2020 for developing ones.<\/p>\n
The rising prominence of the forum in recent years has
\nprompted many countries to apply for membership.<\/p>\n
But some have pointed out that having too many members could
\nweaken the consensus-based decision-making process of the forum.<\/p>\n
During the APEC ministerial meeting in Manila last year,
\nministers agreed to a set of criteria for which new members would
\nbe judged. They further agreed that the current list of 11
\napplicants would be processed in a three-year span before being
\nable to join.<\/p>\n
Those that have applied for membership are Colombia, Ecuador,
\nIndia, Macau, Mongolia, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Russia, Sri Lanka
\nand Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Vietnam (backed by the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations), Peru (backed by Mexico and Chile), and Russia (backed
\nby the United States) are tipped to be the leading contenders.<\/p>\n
\"There is no firm consensus over which of the 11 applicants
\nwill be accepted,\" said Soemadi adding that there are also
\nvarying interpretations on the criteria for new members.<\/p>\n
The criteria for membership include geographic proximity, the
\nresponsiveness in drawing up an individual action plan for trade
\nand investment liberalization, and the potential member's stake
\nand interest in the region.<\/p>\n
Finance<\/p>\n
Soemadi yesterday also said that senior officials proposed
\nthat the financial turmoil hitting the region be the first
\nsubject discussed by APEC leaders when they meet here Monday.<\/p>\n
He said senior officials did not deliberate on the issue since
\na majority of APEC members' finance deputy ministers already
\nconcluded a meeting in Manila.<\/p>\n
Jim Judd, assistant deputy minister at the Canadian finance
\ndepartment, also noted that leaders would likely want to review
\nthe results of the meeting which drew up certain approaches to
\nface the crisis.<\/p>\n
He said Monday's leaders' meeting would be a good opportunity
\nto speak candidly about the problem and see \"whether their
\nofficials did a good enough job\".<\/p>\n
\"There's certainly hope that leaders will endorse the work of
\nthe meeting (in Manila),\" he told journalists.<\/p>\n
But Judd quickly warned that no one could \"prejudge\" what the
\nleaders would do.<\/p>\n
APEC ministers begin their meeting today with an informal
\nmorning gathering to discuss Early Sectoral Voluntary
\nLiberalization (EVSL).<\/p>\n
Senior officials have concluded a draft list of 15 sectors for
\nearly liberalization and now it is up to the ministers to see
\nwhether they can incorporate them into a package.<\/p>\n
Delegates here have suggested that ministers will likely
\nreduce the list to just three to five products with a possible
\ncommencement date of 1999.<\/p>\n
Ministers will also have to tackle other pending issues left
\nover by senior officials such as the host's proposal for a
\n\"people to people linkage\" as a form of greater public
\nparticipation in APEC.<\/p>\n
Ministers will also consider a proposal by senior officials to
\nestablish a subcommittee on technical and economic cooperation.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister of Production and Distribution Hartarto
\nwill lead the Indonesian delegation at the meetings.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-significant-progress-on-apec-new-membership-1447893297",
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