Aussies sure APEC will achieve free-trade deal

Aussies sure APEC will achieve free-trade deal

SYDNEY (AFP): Australia is confident a "momentous" commitment to regional free trade will be achieved at the upcoming APEC summit despite objections by China to setting a timetable, a key minister said here yesterday.

Trade Minister Bob McMullan told reporters he believed China's objections to a timetable for free trade would be overcome at the 18-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bogor, Indonesia, next month.

He was referring to a statement by Beijing on Tuesday in which it said it supported "the long-term goal" of free trade, but did not "stand for timetables because with timetables it may mean actions or decisions or measures will be binding on members."

McMullan was lavish in his praise of Indonesian President Soeharto, whom he described as a "key force" in galvanizing support for a free-trade agreement at the November 15 summit which he will chair.

Australia is leading the push by some APEC countries to impose a 2020 deadline for the introduction of free-trade by developing nations, and 2010 for developed countries such as Australia, Japan and the United States.

Officials of some APEC countries believe China's position may be a bargaining chip in a tactical maneuver aimed at securing founding membership status of the successor to General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trading Organization (WTO), in 1995.

Important

McMullan described Tuesday's statement by Beijing as important and one which "had to be taken seriously."

But he believed "there is still a reasonable prospect" Chinese President Jiang Ze-Min would "be able to forge an agreement about free trade in APEC by an agreed date" during major talks with Soeharto, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating and the other leaders.

"I am still moderately optimistic about that," said McMullan. "But what this statement does emphasis is that we still have some way to go.

"This is not signed, sealed and delivered and waiting to be just announced as a deal in Bogor.

"But there is nothing in that statement that makes me think that we cannot achieve it. I think we still can and I think it is better than a 50-50 chance."

The Chinese statement, by senior trade official Li Enheng, also said Beijing would accept a looser formulation as long as it was clear each country maintained the right to adjust the pace of liberalization.

China has insisted, in the context of securing membership of GATT-WTO, that it be regarded as a developing rather than a developed nation, which under proposals for APEC would mean a 2020 deadline.

But McMullan said his personal view was this was not a serious problem in the context of APEC and such classifications were going to be self-defining.

He did not believe APEC would set about "creating fences" defining countries as being in particular categories, although other APEC members might not tolerate Australia defining itself as a developing nation.

McMullan said the achievement of agreement to free trade at Bogor would be "truly momentous and unprecedented," would set APEC on an irreversible course and Soeharto had been important in helping achieve it.

"His initiative to secure a bold outcome from the Bogor meeting is unprecedented for a leader of a developing country," said McMullan.

"It signifies a changing dynamic with more and more developing countries striking out for comprehensive trade liberalization. This is a phenomenon the developed world ignores at its peril."

APEC groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, the United States and, from November, Chile.