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.