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.