APEC Officials Focus On Free Trade

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

29 September 2010

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) officials met recently in Japan to discuss key reports and recommendations on enhancing regional trade and economic integration that will be submitted to leaders and ministers of its member economies when they meet in November this year.

Delegates focused on APEC's 2010 initiatives, including progress on the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies, set in 1994. A thorough and objective assessment on the progress to achieving those goals, to be presented in November, has been completed with consultation from APEC's policy support unit and external bodies.

The progress of five economies - Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States - has been examined. Another eight economies - Chile, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Taiwan - have volunteered to undergo early assessment before their own target date of 2020.

Officials also focused on the way forward on APEC's strategy for structural reform. APEC is undertaking initiatives aimed at making it easier to do business by reducing "behind-the-border" barriers to trade, such as reducing unnecessary and costly regulations and reforming competition policy.

In addition, they focused on ways to accelerate regional economic integration, including discussion on developments related to regional trade agreements and free trade agreements and possible ways to achieve progress on a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). Earlier in the year, APEC’s trade ministers had instructed their officials to report by November 2010 on the outcome of their exploration of possible ways to achieve an FTAAP (itself in accordance with APEC leaders' instructions issued in 2009).

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