APEC to convene annual talks, FTA best practices, security on agenda

Asian Economic News, Nov 15, 2004

TOKYO, Nov. 9 Kyodo

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will hold annual weeklong talks next week in Santiago, with best practices for free trade agreements and specific ways to tighten security expected to top the agenda.

Leaders of the Pacific Rim economies and their foreign and trade ministers will likely adopt best practices for FTAs from the viewpoint that such pacts will contribute to boosting the liberalization of trade and investment in the APEC region, government officials said.

The weeklong talks will start with a two-day meeting of senior officials from the 21 APEC economies from Sunday, which will be followed by ministerial meetings on Nov. 17-18 and a summit meeting on Nov. 20-21.

The APEC leaders and ministers are also expected to welcome a recent framework agreement in global trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization and reaffirm their commitments to move the multilateral market-opening talks forward, the officials said.

The leaders and their ministers are likely to agree APEC can play a leading role in the area of trade facilitation -- one of the issues being addressed in the WTO negotiations, the officials said.

While the framework pact struck Aug. 1 by WTO member economies in Geneva is a step toward concluding the current Doha round of global trade talks, WTO members face the much harder task of fleshing out the accord by such means as setting specific numerical targets for lowering tariffs.

The APEC ministers are also scheduled to discuss the possibility of launching an APEC-zone FTA -- a proposal made by the APEC Business Advisory Council comprising business leaders in the region. The issue is also likely to be taken up by APEC leaders.

Another key issue which is likely to dominate discussions by APEC leaders and ministers is how to give shape to their commitments made last year to tighten security.

APEC leaders pledged to beef up security measures against terrorism and to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in their summit meeting held in Bangkok in October 2003.

During the meetings in the Chilean capital, APEC leaders and ministers are supposed to hammer out and implement concrete steps to enhance security, according to the officials.

APEC, which was set up in 1989 as a loose consultative forum for economic cooperation, has become more politically oriented recently, particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

In addition, APEC leaders and their ministers will likely exchange views on energy issues, including the negative impact of surging crude oil prices on the global and regional economies.

Japan plans to continue stressing the importance of structural reforms in the APEC economies to sustain their economic growth.

Tokyo will also express support for adopting best practices for FTAs and propose reinforcing export controls as part of APEC's efforts to implement counterterrorism measures and prevent the proliferation of WMDs, the officials said.

Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected to attend the summit meeting while Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa are to take part in the ministerial meeting.

Koizumi and the two ministers are also likely to hold talks with their counterparts from a number of economies on the sidelines of the APEC meeting.

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