Osaka summit 'crucial' to Bogor accord

Osaka summit 'crucial' to Bogor accord

SINGAPORE (AFP): Japan's Finance Minister Masayoshi Takemura
stressed yesterday the need for unity within the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to flesh out an ambitious
accord removing tariff barriers within a quarter-century.

Takemura said the third summit of the 18-member APEC forum in
Osaka in November was "crucial" to the successful implementation
of the accord reached in Indonesia last year to create a free
trade zone by 2020.

"The Osaka meeting is a very important one to promote free
trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region," a senior
Japanese official quoted Takemura as saying during talks with
Singapore's Premier Goh Chok Tong.

Takemura, who arrived late Wednesday for a two-day visit, also
sought Singapore's support in making the summit in Osaka a
success, Japanese deputy vice-minister for international affairs
Haruo Funabashi told a media briefing after the talks.

Under the Bogor Declaration framed during the second APEC
summit in Indonesia last November, "free and open trade and
investment in the Asia-Pacific" should be achieved no later than
2020.

Industrialized economies within APEC, however, will have to
achieve that goal by 2010. No dates were set for the newly
industrializing economies such as Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan
and Hong Kong.

The Osaka summit would have to turn the broad commitment
reached at Bogor into a blueprint for action, officials said.

APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan,
Thailand and the United States.

Liberalization

Funabashi said that during the talks with Takemura, Goh urged
Japan to push forward the process of trade liberalization among
the APEC members.

Goh also told Takemura that implementing the Bogor accord in
Osaka might be a "painful" process, Funabashi said.

Analysts said that although the commitment was there and the
target set, APEC leaders might argue over details in implementing
the Bogor accord.

There is also concern in Washington that Japan may be less
keen to push ahead than either the United States or Indonesia,
which drafted the Bogor accord, news reports said.

Goh also urged Japanese companies to team up with counterparts
in Singapore to assist in the economic development of China,
India, Indonesia and Vietnam, Funabashi said.

Takemura, who held talks with Singapore's senior minister Lee
Kuan Yew and finance minister Richard Hu, left late yesterday for
Kuala Lumpur where he was expected to hold talks with Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad today.