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)