APEC agrees to expand areas of cooperation

APEC agrees to expand areas of cooperation

TOKYO (AFP): The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum wound up yesterday two weeks of preparations for next
month's summit in Osaka with an agreement to expand cooperation
in 13 specific areas overshadowed by a persistent deadlock over
how far to extend the group's free-trade plans.

"Liberalization was the central dispute, particularly the idea
of comprehensiveness," said Hiromoto Seki, the ambassador in
charge of APEC affairs at the Japanese foreign ministry.

Seki, who chaired five days of talks between senior APEC
officials this week following a series of committee meetings last
week, said there was "no plan" to delay the action agenda which
is supposed to be adopted in Osaka.

"What we have to do from now on is work out how to phrase the
details," he said, downplaying the widespread opposition to
Japan's reluctance to support free trade in all sectors. "I'm
convinced that everybody will understand it."

Despite opposition from most of the group's 18 members, Japan,
China, South Korea and Taiwan are seeking special treatment for
sensitive sectors as agriculture as one of the action agenda's
nine guiding principles.

The action agenda aims to implement last year's agreement by
APEC leaders for industrialized members to work towards free and
open trade and investment in the region by 2010 with developing
members following by 2020.

The 13 areas targeted for increased cooperation were human
resources, industrial technology, small and medium-sized
enterprises, infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, trade
promotion, transport, tourism, trade and investment data, marine
resources, agriculture and fisheries.

Among the more concrete proposals to be endorsed next month is
a plan to establish an Energy Research Institute, Japanese
officials said.

In addition to the impasse over excluding sensitive areas from
the free-trade program over the next 25 years, officials said the
United States and China failed to resolve a separate dispute.

While most members agree that the benefits of free trade
should the extended on a non-discriminatory basis, the United
States has legal obstacles in doing so with China.

A further complication is the fact that China's application to
join the World Trade Organization is still pending.

"There was no progress in the problem. Discussions are still
underway with China," Seki said.

Australian Trade Minister Bob McMullan meanwhile warned that
APEC was at a "critical juncture" and urged Japan to show strong
political leadership.

"Since its inauguration, APEC has been an ambitious and
successful undertaking which at various times has required strong
leadership as it does again now," he told a news conference in
Tokyo.

Speaking after talks with International Trade and Industry
Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, he warned that APEC "will lose its
credibility in the eyes of both its members and the rest of the
trading world" if the Osaka summit fails.

"More importantly, Japan and other APEC economies will have
lost an historic opportunity to lock in the current momentum
towards the implementation of free trade in goods, services and
investment in the region, " he said.

"The Osaka meeting will be a real test of Japan's capability
to look beyond its sectoral preoccupations and give a lead to
countries in the Asia-Pacific."

Earlier Friday, Agriculture Minister Hosei Norota hinted that
Japan would eventually have to back down from insisting on
special treatment.

"As the host nation, I think Japan should fulfill its
responsibility," Norota told reporters. "After trying different
ideas, I think there will come a time when Japan will have to
make a decision."

The Japanese agriculture ministry, which unsuccessfully
lobbied against the partial opening of the country's rice market
in the Uruguay Round of global trade talks two years ago, denied
that Norota's remarks signaled a shift.

"This doesn't mean any change in the ministry's stance," a
spokesman said.

APEC groups Brunei, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan,
Thailand and the United States.