APEC officials clinch deal at eleventh hour
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."