Business council to get new home
Business council to get new home
OSAKA, Japan (JP): The Philippines, who will chair the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum beginning next year, proposed on Saturday to host the secretariat of the group's business advisory council.
On Saturday Philippine President Fidel Ramos told a symposium on APEC that the proposal to host the council was a symbolic gesture of Manila's commitment to the forum.
An APEC ministers meeting here last week agreed on the establishment of the APEC Advisory Business Council (ABAC), which for the first time will bring the private business sector formally into the forum's processes.
Such a function has, in the past, been provided by a number of institutions, including most notably the Pacific Basin Economic Council and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).
The APEC's new council, which is expected to have its inaugural meeting in the first half of 1996, is to comprise of representatives of the business sectors from the group's 18 member countries. Each APEC government is to appoint three representatives, who should reflect the interests of a broad spectrum of the sector, including small and medium enterprises.
ABAC will have two functions: To provide advice on implementation of APEC's blue print for trade and other specific business sector priorities; and to respond when various APEC fora requests for information about business-related issues or the business perspective on specific areas of cooperation.
ABAC reports its activities to APEC leaders and their ministers. The first report is already expected by the time APEC ministers convene for their next meeting in the Philippines next year, according to the guidelines on ABAC's proposal endorsed by the ministers here on Friday.
Funding for ABAC will come from outside sources, including private business sectors, and not from APEC's central fund.
The council is also expected to coordinate with other regional business organizations including PBEC, PECC and the Asia Pacific Business Network (APB-Net). (emb)