APEC nations urged to share benefits of globalization

Asian Economic News, Nov 13, 2000

TOKYO, Nov. 7 Kyodo

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum should redouble its efforts to have all member economies reap the fruits of globalization through initiatives such as human resource development, according to a private-sector adviser to APEC leaders.

Yoshitami Arai of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), the voice of the private sector in 21-member APEC, told Kyodo News in an interview that it is vital to help weaker economies benefit from globalization.

''Globalization brings us benefits. But it also has negative impacts on us. As those negative impacts stem from the lack of preparedness of nations to respond to globalization, we need what is called in APEC circles as capacity-building,'' he said.

Arai, chairman of Japanese consulting firm Systems International Inc., said APEC should step up economic and technical cooperation in a wide range of areas to improve human resources at both the government and business level.

''Developed economies need to extend a helping hand to developing economies through economic and technical cooperation. It will make it easier for developing economies to achieve the Bogor goal of open trade and investment by 2020,'' he said.

Under the agreement reached by APEC leaders at their summit in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994, APEC members are committed to liberalizing trade and investment by 2010 for developed economies and by 2020 for developing ones.

Arai said ABAC wants APEC to focus on building more stable financial systems and on expanding access to new opportunities from advances in information technology.

Noting the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis resulted from flaws in affected countries' financial sectors, he said APEC's developed economies should help developing ones reinforce their financial systems to reduce their vulnerability to future crises.

He also expressed hope for the participation of more APEC members, particularly Japan and the United States, in the APEC Business Travel Card scheme.

The project facilitates business travel by offering accredited business travelers visa-free travel and faster procedures for passing through airports when visiting APEC economies. Currently, nine economies are participating in the scheme but at least three more are expected to join by the end of the year.

Japan and the U.S. should not delay joining the scheme if they want to play a constructive role in the work of APEC, Arai warned.

He said free trade agreements (FTAs), which have been attracting growing interest within APEC in recent years, ''can be building blocks'' for the Bogor goal.

But he also spoke of the need to keep an eye on FTAs so that they ''will not be hindrances or stumbling blocks'' to APEC's free trade and investment agenda.

Asked about views that APEC is losing steam as a group, Arai said such a perception may in fact reflect APEC's steady implementation of economic cooperation projects.

''If APEC looks as if it were not so vigorous as it did previously, that's because APEC has mellowed. APEC is doing what it can steadily, instead of talking big about what it will do down the track,'' he said.

Formed in 1989, APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.S. and Vietnam.

APEC is due to hold a joint foreign and trade ministerial gathering on Nov. 12-13 and a summit on Nov. 15-16, both in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of this year's chair, Brunei.