Obama Calls For Seamless Regional Integration

From Mikhail Raj Abdullah HONOLULU, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- The 19th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit came to an end here on Sunday, with the host, US President Barack Obama, urging the 21-member economies to galvanise efforts with the single-minded purpose of creating a seamless regional economy that will benefit its three billion citizens. Obama, hoping that the successful hosting of the APEC in the Hawaiian capital would boost his chances as he seeks a second term in office, said three specific areas were vital to achieving this objective, namely, increasing trade and investment, promoting green jobs and streamlining regulations which would encourage trade and job creation. Flanked by the 18 fellow APEC leaders, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who all donned formal suits and not Aloha shirts as widely-expected, the US President also said that a crucial pre-requisite was to work together to spur quicker economic growth. "The economies of this region have a critical role to play in addressing the imbalances and ensuring that growth is balanced and sustainable in the future, said Obama, when reading out the Honolulu Declaration at the J.W. Marriott Ihilani hotel. Hawaii is the President's hometown. The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon and Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, did not attend the APEC. Enormous progress has been made, but APEC's work toward a truly seamless regional economy is only in the beginning stages. "We instruct our ministers and officials to carry forward this work and to strengthen the economic foundation of our shared Asia-Pacific community," said Obama. "We look forward to reviewing further progress when we convene again during Russia’s hosting of APEC in 2012," he added. Next year’s summit would be held in Vladisvostok, Russia’s largest port city on the Pacific. Further steps to open markets and facilitate regional trade include dismantling the top barriers that SMEs face, so as to boost their capacity in contributing to economic growth and job creation in APEC economies. Obama said leaders also agreed to launch the APEC Travel Facilitation Initiative to explore ways to make travel in the region faster, easier, and more secure, as well as implement the APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform plans by 2015 in order to reduce behind-the-border barriers and promote balanced, inclusive, and sustainable growth. Leaders also pledged to implement the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules System to reduce barriers to information flow, enhance consumer privacy, and promote interoperability across regional data privacy regimes. The President said that the leaders during their deliberations agreed that APEC economies facilitate commerce and promote economic growth by pursuing liberalisation of air cargo services. Obama said APEC economies would also take steps to increase convergence and cooperation in their regulatory systems as part of efforts to pursue common objectives to prevent technical barriers to trade, related to emerging green technologies, including smart grid interoperability standards, green buildings, and solar technologies. APEC would also strengthen food safety systems and facilitate trade, including, supporting the Global Food Safety Fund – an innovative capacity-building partnership with the World Bank. "We will also ensure implementation of our APEC anti-corruption and open government commitments by 2014 through deeper cooperation in APEC," Obama said. Set up in 1989, Apec's member economies include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, United States, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia and Vietnam. -- BERNAMA