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Australia, the host of the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit, has vowed to reinvigorate the forum through
a series of reforms designed to ensure the achievement of the Bogor
target of free trade in the region by 2020.
David Spencer, Australian Ambassador to APEC and chairman of the APEC
senior officials' meeting (SOM), unveiled on Tuesday the major agendas
that will be pursued during the APEC summit here in September,
including a proposal to reform the APEC secretariat and establish a
policy-support unit.
He noted that APEC is not a negotiating forum, but rather a forum for
cooperation and dialog -- something that often makes it more effective
in achieving real targets, such as reducing trade barriers.
But the process was described by Spencer as a "stop-and-start process",
meaning that every time a member takes over the APEC leadership, it
tends to introduce a new focus and new goals, thereby hampering APEC in
its efforts to achieve targets.
"So, we need to establish coherence and continuity, and, therefore, a
stronger secretariat will help," Spencer said.
He said Australia would propose the establishment of the more permanent
post of executive director of the APEC secretariat based in Singapore,
rather than the current annual rotating system, to provide more
professional leadership of the secretariat.
In addition, Spencer said that Australia would propose an increase in
member country contributions of up to 30 percent to strengthen the
secretariat as there had been no increase in the size of contributions
for the past few years.
"We are running on a shoestring budget of about $3.5 million in total
(per annum). It's a disgrace in many respects that a grouping like this
can only afford this amount," he said.
Also regarding the secretariat, Australia planned to propose the
establishment of a policy-support unit, consisting of economists, to
provide suggestions and recommendations on the reform agenda,
especially for developing members, so that the APEC forum can achieve
free trade by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing
economies, as mandated by the Bogor declaration. "So, we are still
committed to Bogor," Spencer said.
Mark Johnson, chairman of the APEC Business Advisory Council, welcomed
Australia's proposal to reform the APEC secretariat and introduce a
policy-support unit, saying that it would help guide APEC economies in
achieving targets and supporting business supply-chain networks.
He suggested that APEC look beyond trade barriers, saying that an
integrated APEC market would need integration not only in the free flow
of trade in products, but also the free flow of trade in services and
investment.
"So, we need to look at broader reforms that will facilitate an
integrated APEC market, covering trade in services, investment and
products," Johnson said.
Spencer welcomed Johnson's suggestion and noted that the upcoming APEC
summit would address concerns from business, and focus on reforming the
domestic policies of each member economy.
Reforming domestic policies would address not only trade barriers but
also other issues that could impede the growth of trade in all sectors,
such as lack of transparency, corruption and poor governance, which all
impede growth in the same way as trade barriers.
However, Spencer said that this did not mean Australia wanted to see
APEC become a body that could intervene in domestic policy. "We are a
forum for sharing experiences, a peer-exchange forum at the senior and
technical levels on how to bring down tariff barriers, how to increase
trade and investment. This is not a peer-pressure forum," he said.
Spencer noted that in the area of trade in goods, APEC had made some
progress, cutting tariffs by two-thirds from 16.5 percent on average in
1989 to a bit above 5 percent on average now. Some developed members
had even lower tariff lines.
In the immediate future, Spencer noted, the leaders assembled at the
upcoming APEC summit would commit themselves to helping bring the
multilateral Doha Development Round trade negotiations to a conclusion.
"For us, Doha is our immediate target, Bogor is our mid-term target and
total free trade in Asia Pacific is our ultimate target," he said.
In September, also in Sydney, Spencer said, APEC leaders would
formulate a coherent regional policy response to issues related to
climate change, such as coordinated efforts to secure energy supplies
in a sustainable manner and promote low-emission technology so as to
reduce greenhouse gas emission.
Spencer also noted that the APEC summit would press ahead on human
security issues, including counterterrorism measures, efforts to secure
trade flows, and plans for tackling pandemics.
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