Pacific Rim economies to boost their integration

+

HIROSHIMA, Feb. 23 Kyodo -
Senior officials from Pacific Rim economies agreed Tuesday to accelerate
economic integration in the region, including creating a free trade area.
Ending a two-day meeting in Hiroshima, where Japan formally took up its
chairmanship of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum for 2010, they also
confirmed there is more work to be done, including assessing how much their
trade has been liberalized and compiling an economic growth strategy, before
APEC leaders gather for their summit later this year.
''We still have a long way to go but were able to make a good start,'' one of
Japanese delegates said after the meeting.
The officials will next meet between May 24 and June 4, just ahead of an APEC
trade ministers meeting in Sapporo, Hokkaido. The APEC annual summit is
scheduled for Nov. 13 and 14 in Yokohama.
APEC, which accounts for half the world's economic output and more than 40
percent of its trade value, groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China,
Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the
United States and Vietnam.
A key issue under Japan's chairmanship is assessing how successfully the
developed members of APEC have achieved the Bogor Goals of trade and investment
liberalization within the region.
The goals, named after the Indonesian city where APEC leaders reached the
agreement in 1994, have no specific numerical targets. Japan leads the
reviewing process by taking into account past achievements under the
initiatives of the World Trade Organization and bilateral or multilateral free
trade accords.
The developed members in question are Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong,
Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.
As chair, Japan is expected to submit a draft report on the issue at the next
meeting in Sapporo.
Similar liberalization goals are also set for the 10 less-developed members by
2020.
On the promotion of a free trade area, APEC members will keep exploring
''possible pathways,'' a Japanese trade ministry official said.
The members share the basic direction of creating a Free Trade Area in the
Asia-Pacific region, called FTAAP, but fell short of discussing in detail how
it could be possible and how long it would take to emerge, the official said.
Japan also leads the compilation of a growth strategy for APEC as a whole,
saying economic growth in the region after the global recession must be more
''balanced, sustainable, inclusive and knowledge-based.''
Tokyo proposed that APEC proceed with necessary structural reforms that could
help support the socially weak and create employment.
==Kyodo
2010-02-23 23:13:50