APEC members urged to respect free trade pledge

APEC members urged to respect free trade pledge

OSAKA, Japan (JP): APEC members are expected to abide by their pledge to move toward an Asia-Pacific free trade area, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday.

Alatas said the Action Agenda drafted by APEC ministers for presentation to their leaders tomorrow allows for concessions to be made for countries that cannot meet the deadlines set by APEC leaders in Bogor, Indonesia, last year.

At a limited press briefing after the end of the APEC ministerial conference, Alatas said that during the ministers' deliberations, one participant likened the free trade pledge made by APEC leaders in Bogor to the exchanging of marriage vows.

"It's completely voluntary, but once you have made the choice to marry, that's a commitment that you'd better implement," Alatas added.

Ministers of APEC's 18 members wound up their two-day conference with an agreement to present the Action Agenda, a blueprint on free trade in the region, to their leaders who are to meet here on Sunday. The Agenda reaffirms the free trade deadlines of 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies within the APEC forum.

At an earlier joint press briefing, Malaysian International Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz sparked controversy when she underlined that there was no obligation on any APEC member to liberalize their market by the 2010 and 2020 deadlines.

"These are only indicative dates that we should strive to achieve the targets for liberalization," she said, adding that Malaysia fully supported the action agenda.

Japanese Minister for International Trade and Industry Ryutaro Hashimoto, who chaired the joint press briefing, stressed that APEC members are expected to abide by the principles agreed to in Bogor.

"We are free, voluntary, but we should be held responsible to deliver what we promised to other members of APEC," Hashimoto said. "That has been the guiding principle so far and will continue to be the one in the future as well," he added.

Alatas said the word "voluntary" in the Action Agenda was "an adjective we could do without", seeing that no one was talking about enforced commitment.

The Indonesian minister added that APEC has not agreed on whether free trade means the reduction of tariffs to zero. "This is one of the technical things that will continue to be discussed in the future," he said.

Alatas said the Indonesian government is already working to quantify the precise benefits of the APEC Action Agenda for its people. "It can be quantified in real U.S. dollars, so to speak," he said.

Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto, who led the Indonesian delegation to the APEC ministerial meeting, hailed the Action Agenda as an "extraordinary achievement", given the diversity within the seven-year-old forum.

If there are problems on the way to 2010 and 2020, "that is to be expected", he added.

Hartarto said APEC's free trade plan presents ample business opportunities for Indonesia; among them, the chance to bolster its exports and to attract manufacturers who will be relocating from industrialized countries.

But Indonesia is not alone in this and has to compete strongly with other developing countries, he said.

"We also need to further deregulate our economy some more. And this is coming soon," Hartarto promised. (emb)