APEC's credibility depends on its concrete actions

APEC's credibility depends on its concrete actions

The Strait Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

The APEC summit in Shanghai last Sunday turned out to be a productive affair. On the economic front, leaders of the 21 Pacific Rim economies all pledged to press on with trade liberalization and reforms. They will support the launching of new global negotiations at the World Trade Organization. They adopted the so-called Shanghai Accord to give the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum economies a new road map to guide them towards freer trade.

Politically, they did something unprecedented by taking an unequivocal stand against terrorism. Beyond their condemnation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in America, they called for a bigger United Nations' role to combat terrorism. This was an APEC summit like no other in that the politics of terrorism and its ramifications, not just APEC economics, hogged the limelight.

These are exceptional times, yes, but a word of caution is in order. APEC must stay focused on its primary task of fostering economic growth, and not stray into political minefields. The last thing APEC leaders want to do is turn it into a political forum.

U.S. President George W. Bush, attending his first APEC summit, sought support for America's war against terrorism. He rallied APEC leaders to his cause and got as much as he possibly could from them.

Significantly, the leaders' statement on counter-terrorism neither mentioned nor endorsed the U.S. military strikes in Afghanistan. This underlines the caution, if not misgivings, some APEC leaders felt about America's campaign, which has stoked anti-U.S. protests in Indonesia and elsewhere.

Happily, the spectacular fireworks display that China put up for APEC leaders on the summit's eve was not replayed in their talks. To be sure, they had differences, but these did not become stumbling blocks at the summit. This is a remarkable show of APEC cohesion in trying times.

The uncertainties caused by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and fears of global recession helped to concentrate minds. Going by the pledges, there is, apparently, political will among them to get on with liberalization to achieve their free-trade goal by 2020.

True, many of their differences over trade and other issues were papered over. But the fact that all the APEC leaders attended the Shanghai summit, save Taipei's boycott to protest against its level of representation, is an important political statement in itself.

APEC leaders endorsed the Shanghai Accord, which is essentially a bid to prod APEC to move faster towards its free- trade goals. It commits APEC economies to speed up reforms and liberalize trade through greater transparency, peer reviews of action plans, and constant stock-taking to check the backsliders and speed up the slow-movers.

All this is fine. APEC leaders now have to match words with deeds. Its secretariat in Singapore should be strengthened to nudge the economies along with, say, half-yearly open reviews to promote the Apec spirit of voluntarism.

Without demonstrable political will to tear down trade barriers, APEC's credibility will be questioned. Left to their own devices, some APEC economies have been complacent or, worse, they backtrack. This means that APEC must really get serious to stay relevant, and there is no better time to do it than now.

To get started, try lowering the costs of doing business in APEC economies by five percent over the next five years, as the accord proposes.

Liberalize customs and visa procedures. Stick faithfully to tariff-cutting schedules. These are the nuts and bolts of free trade. Get moving.