APEC officials clinch deal at eleventh hour
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat & Frits Pangemanan
JAKARTA (JP): A special group assigned to resolve the deadlock on the endorsement of a non-binding investment code for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum succeeded late last night in producing a unified position on the issue.
"I think we're done and we're going to present a unified recommendation," the United States' chief delegate Nancy Adams told The Jakarta Post.
"We're very pleased with the way the talks concluded and the final result," she added.
On the closing day of the three-day Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) at the Jakarta Convention Center, delegates had earlier failed to reach a consensus on three of the 12 principles stipulated in a non-binding investment code.
APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, 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.
The impasse on the investment code stemmed from U.S. objections on issues concerning investment principles, including national treatment and the performance requirement, as well as repatriation and convertibility.
Earlier group and committee meetings also failed in deciding the matter.
The Chairman of the SOM, Indonesia's Wisber Loeis, when asked by The Jakarta Post, acknowledged that a consensus had been reached and that the group had completed its task.
Sandra O'Leary, a senior U.S. delegate, who was also present at the group's meeting, told the Post that the consensus was a victory for the APEC process.
"We have a unified position," she said.
Adams said that despite being "very tired", she was very pleased with the work that had been accomplished.
"We've joined with the group and they've joined with us ... we worked out a middle way, the APEC way," Adams said.
However, neither Adams nor O'Leary would elaborate on the details of the deal, saying only that they found the solution they were working toward.
Peter Adams from New Zealand, who co-chaired the group, would not comment on the results, but told the Post that "we reached agreement on one set of principles for ministers".
When asked to forecast the possibility of an adoption of the investment code by the ministers, Nancy Adams remarked that "you can never predict, but I think they should be pleased with our work".
The APEC Ministerial Meeting will be opened this morning by President Soeharto at the State Palace.
Endorsement
Earlier, Bachrum S. Harahap, assistant to Indonesia's coordinating minister for industry and trade, was upbeat in assessing the SOM, saying that it had reached good results on many issues.
The issues include a task force for the secretariat, an ad hoc group on small and medium-scale entrepreneurs, infrastructure and a new committee on the economy.
He told the Post that the SOM has agreed to set up a task force which aims at helping the new secretariat run in a more effective and efficient way.
He added that the task force has been assigned to submit recommendations to an APEC SOM in Japan by the middle of next year.
APEC established its secretariat in Singapore in February last year. It is now chaired by Indonesia's Rusli Noor.
Kobayashi Kenji, a Japanese delegate at the SOM, said the meeting also endorsed the CTI's proposal on the small and medium enterprises (SME) for adoption by the ministerial meeting.
"CTI's proposal included establishment of a survey on SME entity in the region and a trade policy initiative to identify the barriers to trade, investment and technology transfer," he said, adding that all the results will be reported to the SOM next year.
Last night, Coordinating Minister for Trade and Industry Hartarto, hosted a number of APEC's ministers, including Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher.
When leaving the dinner, Malaysian Minister for Trade Rafidah Aziz would not comment on the discussions during the gathering. "We just had discussion on the agenda."