Philippines can handle next APEC summit: Ramos<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): President Fidel Ramos yesterday lashed out at
\ncongressmen who had charged that the Philippines could not afford
\nto host the next APEC summit in 1996.<\/p>\n
Ramos told a press conference that his critics \"do not know
\ntheir arithmetic,\" describing their concerns as \"unfounded ...
\ninsular, parochial and provincial.\"<\/p>\n
The congressmen had said that the summit would cost 1.2
\nbillion pesos (US$46.15 million) to stage and was not only too
\nexpensive, but the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum
\nhad never done anything for the Philippines anyway.<\/p>\n
Ramos, however, said the 1996 APEC summit would cost about 400
\nmillion pesos ($15 million) and that private sector contributions
\nwould bring the government's bill down even further.<\/p>\n
Ramos' comments came the day after a senior official from one
\nAPEC member said that putting together the multitude of plans for
\nthe next summit would be a \"nightmare\" for any country let alone
\nthe Philippines, one of the group's poorest members.<\/p>\n
\"People think Ramos is genuinely committed. But not everyone
\nhas the resources of Japan,\" he said, referring to Japanese
\nchairmanship of APEC which has won considerable praise from other
\nmembers over the past year.<\/p>\n
But yesterday, Ramos said \"we are not going to duplicate
\nOsaka. We will do it our way so that we can fulfill our
\nmission ... to integrate some 1,100 to 1,500 national,
\nregional ... and multilateral plans ... so that we have a
\nharmonious road map to the 21st century.\"<\/p>\n
\"That kind of work we can handle and we must not shy away from
\nit,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Australia<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said in
\nCanberra yesterday that Australia will ultimately gain 500,000
\nnew jobs as a result of the free trade targets agreed at the APEC
\nsummit in Osaka.<\/p>\n
Keating told parliament that Australia's real income would
\nrise by 6.8 percent or A$40 billion dollars (US$30 billion) when
\nall its impacts had flowed through the national economy.<\/p>\n
\"The initial results of the most recent modeling shows that
\nAustralia's real income will rise by 6.8 percent or A$40 billion
\nwhen all the affects have flowed through,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Growth of this order can be expected to generate around
\n500,000 new jobs over the course of the liberalization period.\"<\/p>\n
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum formally agreed in
\nOsaka last Sunday to draw up individual action plans to eliminate
\ntariffs in the region, beginning with measures in 1997.<\/p>\n
The summit reaffirmed the target dates for APEC free trade set
\nlast year -- 2010 for developed nations and 2020 for developing
\ncountries -- and the principle that no sector such as agriculture
\nwould be excluded.<\/p>\n
The prime minister said the APEC framework provided for deeper
\nintegration of Australia into the Asia-Pacific region with all
\nthe economic, political and strategic benefits which flow from
\nthat.<\/p>\n
\"It is of deep and long-run significance to Australia,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He described Australian farmers as the \"real winners\" from the
\nagreement because they were now able to plan confidently for the
\nopening up of trade markets under which Australia hoped to be a
\nmajor global food supplier.<\/p>\n
Opposition Leader John Howard said the APEC goals were
\nsupported by both sides of Australian politics.<\/p>\n
But Howard warned that the real test for APEC would be at next
\nyear's summit at Subic Bay in the Philippines when leaders re-
\nexamined the action plans from the Osaka meeting.<\/p>\n
\"It will be at that point that the bold language (of Osaka)
\nwill be put to the test,\" Howard said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/philippines-can-handle-next-apec-summit-ramos-1447893297",
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