APEC might form unilateral FTA: Official

APEC might form unilateral FTA: Official

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation member countries are
displaying a growing tendency in favor of establishing a
unilateral free trade agreement in the vast region, according to
a senior official at the Ministry of Trade.

The ministry's director general for international cooperation
Pos M. Hutabarat said on Monday that as more APEC countries
established bilateral FTAs, there was a debate going on about
whether to push this trend further to a unilateral agreement.

The U.S. and Singapore, for example, have signed a bilateral
FTA.

"APEC has been all about building corridors for facilitating
bilateral talks, but now I see a tendency to push for a full APEC
free trade area. A unilateral agreement," he said.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the
establishment of a unilateral FTA would result in APEC meetings
that would involve binding negotiations.

Leaders from 21 Asia Pacific economies will meet in Santiago,
Chile, on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 for the 12th APEC Economic Leaders'
Meeting.

APEC has been a non-binding negotiating forum, with no
sanctions being imposed on countries that refuse to implement the
outcome of APEC meetings.

"Thus, we have no specific trade targets for coming meeting,
but merely seek ways to establish bilateral FTAs with fellow
members," Pos told reporters after signing a Memorandum of
Understanding on technical assistance from the government of
Canada.

Canadian Ambassador to Indonesia Randolph Mank, together with
Pos, signed an MOU outlining Canadian assistance to Indonesia
under the C$6.4 million APEC Economic Integration Program, which,
among other things, is aimed at enhancing the knowledge and
skills of government officials responsible for dealing with World
Trade Organization (WTO) affairs.

The money is available to APEC members Indonesia, Thailand,
the Philippines, Vietnam, and two non-APEC countries, Laos and
Cambodia. But it is not clear how much money Indonesia will
actually get.

"This project is in response to APEC leaders' support for
capacity building to help developing member countries integrate
into the world economy and improve growth prospects," Mank said.

According to Pos, Indonesia lacked capable trade negotiators
even though the country faced more international trade
negotiations in the future.

"In the Ministry of Trade, we only have around ten
negotiators. We hope to have at least 50 new negotiators when the
program ends in 2009," he said, adding that the program would
also train negotiators from other relevant ministries, such as
the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture.

He said that the Ministry of Trade might also facilitate
training for a limited number of journalists covering
international trade issues.

Pos said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was likely to
address the upcoming APEC meeting as Indonesia currently heads
the APEC working group on security. This could be Susilo's first
overseas trip since becoming the country's President.

"The meeting is also a perfect occasion for the President to
meet other leaders without having to visit their respective
countries," Pos said.