Japan wants RI to omit free trade area from APEC
Japan wants RI to omit free trade area from APEC
TOKYO (AFP): Japan is asking Indonesia to omit any reference to a free-trade area in a statement to be issued by leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, a Japanese news agency reported yesterday.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday that the APEC forum is being unrealistic in setting a target year for regional free trade.
Kyodo News Service quoted unidentified diplomatic sources as saying that Japan had "voiced concern" to Indonesia which is hosting the annual APEC ministerial meeting this month followed by an informal summit on Nov. 15.
The report from Singapore said Japan believed the free-trade area mentioned in the first and second drafts of the statement by APEC leaders ran counter to the principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
"The reference to an APEC free-trade area, first mentioned in the original draft statement, is also repeated in the second draft statement, prompting Japan to urge Indonesia to delete it in the final statement," the report said.
Kyodo said the second draft, dated Oct. 1, was currently circulating among officials from APEC members. The first draft was dated Sept. 10.
The report said Japan was seeking the deletion of a phrase saying that trade liberalization "will be implemented through a complete non-discriminatory basis among its member countries and extend the benefits of regional liberalization by a commitment to continue reducing its barriers to non-member countries."
Indonesian economist Bintoro Tjokroamidjojo, President Soeharto's special assistant on APEC who compiled the first and second drafts, is expected to circulate the final draft soon, the report said.
Malaysia
Malaysian Minister Rafidah told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that: "Having the deadline is presumptuous. APEC is a body that is a loose consultation forum. It is not an institution and everything has to be done by consensus."
APEC's eminent persons' group has suggested it adopt a pact under which trade barriers would be dismantled between 2000 and 2020 -- depending on whether a country's economy is developed, industrializing or developing.
The pact is part of an 11-point draft of the final declaration for this month's APEC meeting.
"Malaysia is not supporting any move to institutionalize trade liberalization within the APEC process," Rafidah said.
Instead, APEC members such as the United States should ratify and implement market liberalization commitments made in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
"Why talk about an APEC liberalization program when you haven't ratified the very one you're committed to multilaterally in the GATT?" she said.
APEC, set up in 1989, groups Brunei, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. Chile is set to joint the group at this month's meeting.