Unfamiliar abbreviations creeping into APEC forum<\/p>\n
By Endy Bayuni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In the beginning, there was just APEC ...<\/p>\n
Now the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which
\nis entering its sixth year, has created a host of abbreviations,
\nwhich its officials feel at ease with, but which are mindboggling
\nto those not familiar with APEC.<\/p>\n
Amid the intensive debate within APEC on the merits (and
\ndrawbacks) of institutionalizing the forum, or on how rapidly (or
\nslowly) they want the forum to become a formally structured
\norganization, one thing is for sure -- the use of abbreviations
\nand acronyms is being institutionalized by APEC bureaucrats.<\/p>\n
Now, with APEC dominating the pages of national and
\ninternational newspapers, their reporters will have to struggle
\nthrough the alphabet soup of three-letter or four-letter
\nabbreviations and acronyms and try to decipher these and make
\nthem comprehensible for their readers.<\/p>\n
From the now familiar ASEAN, EPG, EAEC, the list of
\nabbreviations has proliferated. Among the latest additions are
\nAELM, CTI, ETI.<\/p>\n
As abbreviation and acronym making is considered a favorite
\npast time for Indonesians, no doubt some of the additions have
\nbeen made by Indonesia, which is chairing the forum this year.<\/p>\n
And more abbreviations will be created no doubt in the coming
\nyears as institutionalization creeps up on APEC and as
\nbureaucrats establish more and more meetings to liberalize trade
\nin the region.<\/p>\n
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) itself, as many
\nofficials willingly admit, constitutes poor usage of English
\nbecause it is an incomplete phrase. Because of this, the proper
\nusage is APEC forum.<\/p>\n
"We adopted APEC because it sounded good," remarked an
\nIndonesian official familiar with the history of the forum.<\/p>\n
Those who cannot accept the violation of language principles
\nmight not have to wait too long before they see a change. The
\nUnited States has been trying to convert the forum's name into
\nthe Asia Pacific Economic Community, still APEC for short, but at
\nleast good English.<\/p>\n
Political sensitivity also determines the way the
\nabbreviations are created in APEC.<\/p>\n
Not wanting to offend China, APEC views its membership as an
\neconomic entity not defined by states or governments. This has
\nallowed the forum to recruit China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which
\nis officially referred to as Chinese Taipei, at the same time.<\/p>\n
This means, however, that the meeting of APEC leaders, first
\nheld in Blake Island in Seattle, the United States, last
\nNovember, cannot be called a summit, because that would offend
\nChina. It was then officially called the informal meeting of APEC
\nleaders, or the "leadership" meeting for second reference. It was
\nnot a summit.<\/p>\n
Now with Indonesia preparing to host the second such meeting
\nin nearby Bogor on Nov. 15, the host nation has come up with the
\nacronym "AELM" which stands for APEC Economic Leaders Meeting.
\nAgain, as in the case of Blake Island, anyone trying to portray
\nthe meeting as a summit will quickly earn official wrath.<\/p>\n
But there is no problem with the lesser level meetings. The
\nsenior officials meeting, now already underway, is described as
\nsuch and given the initials SOM. The ministerial meeting is also
\ncalled just that although, for some unexplained reason, no one
\nhas bothered to make up an abbreviation for it.<\/p>\n
Identity<\/p>\n
The term "ASEAN" will likely creep into most APEC press
\narticles because the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has
\ncontinued to maintain its identity within APEC.<\/p>\n
Its six members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore and Thailand -- insisted when they joined
\nAPEC in 1989 that the group must not be diluted. As a concession
\nfor its joining, ASEAN won the right to host the APEC meetings
\nevery other year.<\/p>\n
Now ASEAN is also lobbying to establish another, larger caucus
\nwithin APEC, called the EAEC, which stands for East Asia Economic
\nCaucus. But the idea has been shot down by the "Caucasian" or the
\n"non-Asian" members of APEC, particularly the United States. The
\nEAEC is expected to link the six ASEAN countries with Japan,
\nSouth Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
The institutionalization of APEC also means the creation of
\nworking groups, committees and sub-committees, all of which are,
\nor will, sooner or later, be referred to in their three-letter or
\nfour-letter abbreviations and acronyms.<\/p>\n
CTI stands for Committee on Trade and Investment. There is
\nalso the ETI (Economic Trends and Issues) working group. In APEC,
\neven the issues are abbreviated. Examples are: SME (Small and
\nMedium Enterprises), AAMA (Administration Aspects of Market
\nAccess) and TRIM (Trade Related Investment Measures), RTL
\n(Regional Trade Liberalization).<\/p>\n
Then there are also the supporting organizations within and
\noutside of APEC.<\/p>\n
The PECC is the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, a
\ntripartite forum grouping representatives from Asia-Pacific
\nbusiness, government and academic communities.<\/p>\n
There is also the EPG, or the Eminent Persons Group of APEC,
\nwhich is mandated to look into issues, particularly in trade
\nliberalization, on behalf of the forum.<\/p>\n
After presenting two reports, its future hinges on this week's
\nAPEC ministerial meeting, which will decide whether the ministers
\nhave any more use for the group, given that the forum has
\nestablished committees which could undertake the study and
\nprepare reports similar to those by the EPG.<\/p>\n
Whatever decision is made in Jakarta, Japan, as the next APEC
\nchairman beginning in 1995, is already considering the
\nestablishment of another group, called the Group of Eminent and
\nExperienced Persons. Since this has yet to be accepted at APEC,
\nthere is no acronym for it ... at least for the time being.<\/p>",
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