Asia-Pacific states vow of strengthening APEC's mandate

By Pandaya

BANGKOK (JP): ASEAN member countries and major economic powers pledged yesterday to strengthen the mandates of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to liberalize trade and investment.

Foreign ministers from 12 Asia-Pacific countries attending the 27th ASEAN meeting explored ways to forge new business linkages in vital economic sectors such as telecommunications, and spur private sector activities throughout the region.

Foreign ministers from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Canada and the United States, which was represented by Deputy Foreign Secretary Strobe Talbott, presented their regional economic views in the gathering.

The six ASEAN members, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, are members of APEC, which will hold the second summit in Bogor, 60 kilometers south of Jakarta, in November. The first summit was held in Seattle last year.

"The United States is committed to APEC as a catalyst for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and we continue to regard ASEAN as being the core of APEC," Talbott said.

"Under President Soeharto's leadership, we will strengthen APEC's mandate to liberate trade and investment," he added.

Besides the ASEAN members, APEC also groups Japan, the United States, Australia, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, China, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Talbott said that this year's cabinet-level meetings of APEC's finance, trade and environmental ministers are encouraging examples of the extensive consultation that are developing among APEC nations.

Obstacles

Australian Foreign Minister Garth Evans said APEC, formed in Canberra in 1989, had assumed major importance in member countries' efforts to remove obstacles to regional growth.

He said that solid progress had been made at the sub-regional level with the initiation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

ASEAN countries are Australia's major export market. Its trade with ASEAN has grown to reach almost US$10 billion in 1992/93 with Australian exports to the region rising over the past 20 years from under six percent of its total exports to reach 14 percent or $6.4 billion last year, Evans said.

"We will need to put in much hard work into the further development of APEC. There is a wide range of post-Uruguay Round actions to complete, including early ratification of national legislation to implement the round," he said.

Evans said that APEC should be upgraded from the loose economic grouping founded five years ago to a regional vehicle for free trade.

Meanwhile, Japan promised to continue assisting developing countries through its Overseas Development Aid (ODA) and promoting the transfer of investment and technology to ASEAN countries.

Japan, often criticized of contributing too little for environment preservation projects, also reiterated its commitment to provide up to 1,000 billion yen in aid for environment projects until 1997.