ID :
149616
Fri, 11/12/2010 - 08:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/149616
The shortlink copeid
APEC to push for regionwide free trade area, resist protectionism+
YOKOHAMA, Nov. 11 Kyodo -
Pacific Rim ministers Thursday affirmed the need to take ''concrete steps''
toward their future goal of creating a regionwide free trade area and to resist
protectionism by promising to avoid new export curbs and other trade barriers
until 2013.
In statements issued at the end of their two-day meeting in Yokohama, the trade
and foreign ministers of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
also expressed their strong commitment to swiftly ending the stalled global
trade liberalization talks at the World Trade Organization, bearing in mind
that 2011 will be ''critically important.''
The outcome will be forwarded to their leaders gathering for a summit meeting
over the weekend, where the major focus will be on what kind of vision the
forum will set amid the changing global economic landscape and with the target
year of 2010 having arrived for developed members to attain their self-imposed
free trade goals.
''We have been able to create a good foundation for the future of APEC,''
Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who co-chaired the meeting with
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akihiro Ohata, said at a joint press
conference with fellow ministers afterward.
Japan is hosting a series of APEC meetings for the first time since 1995. The
forum, set up in 1989, now accounts for more than half the global economy.
Although the ministers did not include specifics in their joint statement, they
have agreed that a U.S.-backed Pacific free trade initiative and existing Asian
regional frameworks would contribute to the creation of what they call a Free
Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
''We affirmed that taking concrete steps toward realization of an FTAAP is an
important part of the REI (regional economic integration) agenda,'' the
ministers said in the joint statement.
A declaration to be issued after the weekend summit is expected to present
''possible pathways'' to achieve an FTAAP, referring to such existing
frameworks as the ''ASEAN plus three'' and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
China is known to prefer the ASEAN plus three, which groups Japan, China, South
Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while the
United States is promoting the TPP as the potential core for creating an FTAAP.
The TPP originated in a free trade agreement among Brunei, Chile, New Zealand
and Singapore, and negotiations are under way to expand it with participation
by five other APEC countries -- the United States, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia
and Peru.
Japan explained at the meeting about its recent decision to start consultations
with the TPP negotiating members, with an eye to deciding whether to join the
talks around next June, although concerns remain in the country about
drastically opening up its heavily-protected agricultural market.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, who attended the meeting on
behalf of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, told the press conference,
''We...welcome this expression of interest'' by Tokyo in the TPP.
To resist protectionism, a separate statement by the ministers said that they
agreed to recommend to leaders again extending their ''commitment on
standstill'' made in 2008 to refrain from raising new trade and investment
barriers or imposing new export restrictions until the end of 2013.
The move came at a time when concerns linger over China's tightening control of
its rare earth exports, with Japan struggling over toughened customs
inspections on the resource that is vital for high-tech products amid renewed
strains in bilateral ties.
Meanwhile, APEC is compiling its first-ever regional growth strategy and
finalizing an assessment report of the so-called Bogor Goals, which commit
developed economies to achieving free and open trade and investment by 2010 and
developing economies by 2020.
The goals, named after the Indonesian city where APEC leaders reached the
agreement in 1994, have no specific numerical targets, but Japanese trade
minister Ohata told reporters that the forum saw ''big progress'' toward them.
Still, the report on the Bogor Goals identifies agriculture, services and
investment as areas where more work is needed by APEC members to open their
markets, a news release from the office of Australian Trade Minister Craig
Emerson said.
''The opening up of agricultural sectors of APEC economies remains a key
challenge,'' Emerson was quoted as saying in the release.
To further improve the flow of goods and services in the region, APEC ministers
also decided to set the regionwide target of a 10 percent improvement by 2015,
in terms of reduction in time and costs.
APEC accounts for 52.7 percent of the world's gross domestic product and 44.4
percent of global trade by value, according to the Japanese government. It
operates on the basis of nonbinding commitments.
Its members are Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea,
Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Taiwan, the United States,
and seven ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
==Kyodo
Pacific Rim ministers Thursday affirmed the need to take ''concrete steps''
toward their future goal of creating a regionwide free trade area and to resist
protectionism by promising to avoid new export curbs and other trade barriers
until 2013.
In statements issued at the end of their two-day meeting in Yokohama, the trade
and foreign ministers of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
also expressed their strong commitment to swiftly ending the stalled global
trade liberalization talks at the World Trade Organization, bearing in mind
that 2011 will be ''critically important.''
The outcome will be forwarded to their leaders gathering for a summit meeting
over the weekend, where the major focus will be on what kind of vision the
forum will set amid the changing global economic landscape and with the target
year of 2010 having arrived for developed members to attain their self-imposed
free trade goals.
''We have been able to create a good foundation for the future of APEC,''
Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who co-chaired the meeting with
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akihiro Ohata, said at a joint press
conference with fellow ministers afterward.
Japan is hosting a series of APEC meetings for the first time since 1995. The
forum, set up in 1989, now accounts for more than half the global economy.
Although the ministers did not include specifics in their joint statement, they
have agreed that a U.S.-backed Pacific free trade initiative and existing Asian
regional frameworks would contribute to the creation of what they call a Free
Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
''We affirmed that taking concrete steps toward realization of an FTAAP is an
important part of the REI (regional economic integration) agenda,'' the
ministers said in the joint statement.
A declaration to be issued after the weekend summit is expected to present
''possible pathways'' to achieve an FTAAP, referring to such existing
frameworks as the ''ASEAN plus three'' and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
China is known to prefer the ASEAN plus three, which groups Japan, China, South
Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while the
United States is promoting the TPP as the potential core for creating an FTAAP.
The TPP originated in a free trade agreement among Brunei, Chile, New Zealand
and Singapore, and negotiations are under way to expand it with participation
by five other APEC countries -- the United States, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia
and Peru.
Japan explained at the meeting about its recent decision to start consultations
with the TPP negotiating members, with an eye to deciding whether to join the
talks around next June, although concerns remain in the country about
drastically opening up its heavily-protected agricultural market.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, who attended the meeting on
behalf of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, told the press conference,
''We...welcome this expression of interest'' by Tokyo in the TPP.
To resist protectionism, a separate statement by the ministers said that they
agreed to recommend to leaders again extending their ''commitment on
standstill'' made in 2008 to refrain from raising new trade and investment
barriers or imposing new export restrictions until the end of 2013.
The move came at a time when concerns linger over China's tightening control of
its rare earth exports, with Japan struggling over toughened customs
inspections on the resource that is vital for high-tech products amid renewed
strains in bilateral ties.
Meanwhile, APEC is compiling its first-ever regional growth strategy and
finalizing an assessment report of the so-called Bogor Goals, which commit
developed economies to achieving free and open trade and investment by 2010 and
developing economies by 2020.
The goals, named after the Indonesian city where APEC leaders reached the
agreement in 1994, have no specific numerical targets, but Japanese trade
minister Ohata told reporters that the forum saw ''big progress'' toward them.
Still, the report on the Bogor Goals identifies agriculture, services and
investment as areas where more work is needed by APEC members to open their
markets, a news release from the office of Australian Trade Minister Craig
Emerson said.
''The opening up of agricultural sectors of APEC economies remains a key
challenge,'' Emerson was quoted as saying in the release.
To further improve the flow of goods and services in the region, APEC ministers
also decided to set the regionwide target of a 10 percent improvement by 2015,
in terms of reduction in time and costs.
APEC accounts for 52.7 percent of the world's gross domestic product and 44.4
percent of global trade by value, according to the Japanese government. It
operates on the basis of nonbinding commitments.
Its members are Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea,
Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Taiwan, the United States,
and seven ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
==Kyodo
