Leaders upbeat on APEC's future

Leaders upbeat on APEC's future

MANILA (JP): APEC leaders said they were satisfied with the
outcome of their summit yesterday, with Indonesia and China
stressing economic cooperation programs to address the disparity
between rich and poorer members.

"President Soeharto is satisfied," Minister/State Secretary
Moerdiono said on board his flight home to Jakarta. His remarks
were broadcast on TVRI last night.

Moerdiono said that at the meeting in Subic, the President
stressed partnership was the best way to address the disparity
between the advanced economies and the developing ones.

"Through partnership, the advanced economies ought to give the
less advanced economies an opportunity to catch up," Moerdiono
said.

Soeharto stressed that private businesses must be involved in
various APEC processes, and that small and medium enterprises be
given a fair go, the minister said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, speaking on behalf of
President Jiang Zemin, said in Manila that APEC's economic and
technical cooperation program was sorely lagging behind the pace
of trade and liberalization measures.

He said it took APEC eight years to establish a framework to
boost development cooperation among members.

"Because of the differences in the levels of development in
the member economies, it is very difficult for liberalization in
the field to be pushed forward in accordance with a timetable,"
Xinhua news agency quoted Jian as saying.

U.S. President Bill Clinton secured APEC leaders support,
albeit a qualified one, for his call to substantially cut tariffs
on an annual US$500 billion global trade in computers, memory
chips and telecommunications equipment.

Clinton described the support as a "big deal" that would boost
U.S. exports and create better jobs, Reuters reported.

"Every year we sell $100 billion in information technology and
that sector supports almost two million jobs in the United
States," Clinton said after the one-day summit.

"So imagine if we went to zero tariffs in the entire world.
That would mean to America more exports and higher paying jobs,"
he told U.S. embassy employees.

U.S. Trade Representative spokesman Jay Ziegler said:
"Substantially eliminate is tradespeak for zero."

Taiwan's representative to the leaders meeting, Koo Chen-Fu,
said he was both "satisfied and a little unsatisfied."

"We did not totally fulfill the spirit of community," he said
on the meeting's atmosphere.

Koo said the forum should have involved more business
participation because APEC had reached a stage of "action" in
which businesses could play a major role.

This year's meeting should have stressed how each APEC member
could prepare itself for next year when members start carrying
out their individual action plans.

Koo said he was "very impressed" with the hospitality and
warmth displayed by host President Ramos.

There appeared to be an agreement among the APEC leaders to
allow new entrants into the forum earlier than originally
planned.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the leaders
agreed to admit Vietnam and Peru as early as 1998, when Malaysia
hosts the APEC meeting.

"Everyone is agreed that Vietnam and Peru should be admitted
as soon as possible," Mahathir told a news conference after the
summit.

Mahathir said the leaders wanted "to keep a cosy membership"
by limiting membership in an informal way. "If APEC is to be
effective the membership should not be too large as to be
unwieldy."

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas told
reporters on the flight back to Jakarta that the leaders agreed
to speed up the admission process from three years to two years.

"This is something the Indonesian delegation has been fighting
for," Alatas said.

He did not name any particular countries but said some new
members would be admitted by 1998.

Indonesia has been pushing for the membership of Vietnam,
which this year formally joined the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Qian said China would support the admission of Russia into
APEC.

On the leaders' conclusion for an information technology
agreement at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Qian said China
had given its views at yesterday's meeting, although it was not a
member of the WTO.

"It is understandable that measures can be taken to develop
the sector... but it should be negotiated whether the target date
should be 2000, whether tariffs should be brought down to zero
and whether it should cover such a wide range of products," Qian
said. (pwn/mds/emb)