APEC vehicle towards trans-Pacific community

APEC vehicle towards trans-Pacific community

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is a
vehicle for Asia to define itself in trans-Pacific terms, not
just East Asia regional terms, a U.S. administration official
says.

The U.S. must remain engaged with the region and build a
trans-Pacific community infrastructure if it is to successfully
face the economic challenges of the post-Cold War world, said
Sandra Kristoff, Senior Director for Asia-Pacific Economic
Affairs at the National Security Council.

Kristoff made the statement earlier this year at a seminar on
the challenge of creating a regional economy in East Asia.

Kristoff said APEC is central to U.S. economic policy in Asia
for five reasons. APEC provides an opportunity for the United
States to build on existing regional integration trends and to
use those trends to help foster global integration efforts, she
said.

She pointed out that APEC complements the GATT Uruguay Round
multilateral trade liberalization initiatives in Geneva and
contributes to the fight against recurrent tendencies toward
protectionism worldwide.

Second, Kristoff said, APEC is an appropriate forum in which
to explore trade arrangements such as the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), or between
either of those two and the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic
Relations (CER) treaty.

U.S. role

APEC is also the ideal format to expand the role of the U.S.
in the region, Kristoff noted, adding that this will draw the
nation into better trade relations with its partners.

"APEC is the best vehicle that exists for anchoring the United
States in the region," she said. "This allows it to negotiate
win-win solutions with its trading partners instead of relying on
aggressive unilateral U.S. trade laws."

APEC also serves as a focal point for the emerging economic
infrastructure in the region, Kristoff believes. These linkages
and networks traverse telecommunications, transportation, energy
and environmental concerns and are helping forge the new trans-
Pacific identity for the region, and one where U.S. business and
U.S. policy should be involved.

The final aspect is that APEC, with an established secretariat
in Singapore and a solid work program, can provide considerable
institutional support for U.S. private development in the Asia-
Pacific region.

Kristoff also praised President Soeharto of Indonesia for
ushering APEC into an exciting new phase with the convening of
the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM) in Jakarta.

"We have under President Soeharto the opportunity to make a
bold statement about the direction that the region wants to go
toward (in) achieving free trade and investment," she said.
Common tariffs and standards, dispute settlement mechanisms, and
sectoral free trade initiatives are all possibilities, Kristoff
concluded.