APEC to accept new members in 1998
By Medyatama Suryodiningrat
MANILA (JP): Ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum yesterday settled a year-long debate over the question of membership and announced the forum would admit new members in 1998.
The on-going eighth APEC Joint Ministerial Meeting here yesterday decided not to extend a three-year moratorium with the intention of admitting a limited number of new members.
The ministers agreed to assign senior officials the task of drawing up a set of detailed criteria for evaluating membership applications.
The senior officials will be given a year to draft the criteria which will then be reviewed and adopted during the next APEC Ministerial Meeting in Vancouver in 1997.
Ministers will then use the criteria to determine new members and announce their decision at the 10th Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
Those selected will have one year to prepare themselves before full admission in the 1999 APEC Ministerial Meeting in Auckland.
Formed in 1989, APEC originally comprised Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States.
China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and Taiwan joined soon after.
In 1994 a three-year moratorium on new members was imposed to allow APEC to concentrate on deepening its members' commitment to the goals of comprehensive trade liberalization.
Chile, who joined in 1994, was the last country to be admitted.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said the importance of the matter prompted ministers to discuss it earlier than scheduled.
"It wasn't scheduled to be discussed till tomorrow," Alatas said after yesterday's opening day of the two-day ministerial meeting.
He further stressed that APEC is an open and evolving process, not a closed regional regime.
Alatas and Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto headed up the Indonesian delegation to the meeting.
Ecuador, Colombia, Macau, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Russia and Vietnam have all expressed strong interest in joining.
Only a few are expected to meet the new criteria to be adopted next year.
"Well, maybe only about four or five will be able to fulfill the criteria," Alatas remarked without elaborating.
Vietnam, Peru and Russia have been touted as favorites to get in, since the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which comprises six APEC members has expressed support for them.
During a preceding senior officials meeting held here Thursday, it was recommended the criteria for new members take into account geography, the measure of economic linkages of applicants with APEC members and the degree of interest in APEC as demonstrated by involvement in other regional and international groupings.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rodolfo Severino said senior officials have suggested the possibility of prospective members submitting a shadow action plan for trade and investment liberalization as a possible criterion.
He said however that criteria, such as geography, were too broad and senior officials would have to define them further.