Text: APEC Amb. Boucher Address to World Trade Center Institute
("Pushing APEC Forward in 1999: Outcomes From Auckland")For the United States, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is not an end in itself, but a means to advance a number of key objectives that incorporate U.S. economic, political, and security interests, according to U.S. Ambassador to APEC Richard Boucher.
In a speech at the World Trade Center Institute in Baltimore, Maryland October 5, Boucher said: "APEC helps anchor the United States in Asia. It reinforces multilateral and bilateral efforts to open markets. It provides high-level interaction with countries like China, Japan, and those in Southeast Asia. It can help build safe and efficient capital markets. APEC helps ensure growth in Asia is environmentally sustainable. And APEC facilitates business and eliminates barriers to trade and investment, creating jobs and opportunities for U.S. businesses and their products and services."
Commenting on the outcomes of the annual APEC meetings held last month in Auckland, New Zealand, Boucher said the leaders of APEC's 21 member economies focused their discussions on prospects for maintaining renewed economic growth rather than on reactions to financial crisis as they did in 1998. And, whereas the region's recent upward economic trends have somewhat diminished the pressure for reform, the ambassador said, the meeting reinforced APEC's "clear commitment to sustain the momentum for reform so as to make recovery durable and economic growth sustainable."
Boucher said 1999 was a critical year for APEC in the context of the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial in Seattle and the ensuing round of trade negotiations. "This was an opportunity to ensure APEC continued to push the global trading system forward to more open markets. Once again, Leaders and Ministers made it clear that APEC will continue to play a leadership role in the multilateral trading system."
Acknowledging APEC's challenge to "deliver concrete results for business," Boucher stressed APEC's need to work in close cooperation with the private sector, as is the case of APEC's initiatives on electronic commerce, natural gas, and Y2K compliance. "We need the support, expertise, and energy of the private sector in carrying through on implementing initiatives," he said.
Events in East Asia, particularly in East Timor, reminded APEC leaders that "security and politics are also part of the foundation of prosperity," Boucher said. "And the fact that APEC Leaders were able to deal successfully with East Timor demonstrates once again the value of bringing Leaders together on a cooperative basis."
Following is the text of Boucher's remarks:
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Richard A. Boucher
U.S. Ambassador to APEC
Address to the World Trade Center Institute
Baltimore, Maryland, October 5, 1999"Pushing APEC Forward in 1999: Outcomes From Auckland"
Thank you for the opportunity to come here today to talk about APEC -- the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The annual APEC Leaders meeting brings together twenty-one Leaders from economies that comprise over half of total world income and nearly half of global trade. They come together on a basis of cooperation, dedicated to openness and reform. And while APEC is an economic forum with its own work plan and agenda, our active participation in it bolsters our ability to achieve our broader foreign policy goals.
For the United States, APEC is not an end in itself, but a means to advance a number of key objectives that incorporate our economic, political, and security interests. APEC helps anchor the United States in Asia. It reinforces multilateral and bilateral efforts to open markets. It provides high level interaction with countries like China, Japan, and those in Southeast Asia. It can help build safe and efficient capital markets. APEC helps ensure growth in Asia is environmentally sustainable. And APEC facilitates business and eliminates barriers to trade and investment, creating jobs and opportunities for U.S. businesses and their products and services.
Three weeks ago, APEC Leaders and Ministers gathered in Auckland for their annual meeting under very different conditions from when they came together in 1998. Gone were the doom and gloom of a region under financial siege. Instead, discussions focused on the prospects for maintaining renewed economic growth. But by circumstance, we were all reminded that security and politics are also part of the foundation of prosperity -- events in East Timor reminded us. And the fact that APEC Leaders were able to deal successfully with East Timor demonstrates once again the value of bringing Leaders together on a cooperative basis.
In Auckland, Leaders and Ministers established a new momentum in the region. This new dynamic centers on avoiding complacency, pursuing reform and more open markets, and creating specific opportunities for business throughout the region.
In recent years, APEC meetings occurred at critical moments for the region and the world -- for example, as the Uruguay Round wrapped up, as the first signs of financial crisis were unfolding, and as the region was firmly in the clutches of recession. Despite what you may hear, I think APEC responded effectively. APEC pressed for liberalization of information technology products, APEC kept the focus on reform and liberalization through the crisis, and APEC crafted a growth strategy for recovery based on sound macroeconomic principles and open markets. APEC is also progressing on a micro level such as in modernizing customs procedures at the port of Shanghai, establishing connection standards for telecommunications products, and launching a regional auto dialogue --all these steps are designed to complement our work on reform by making a real difference to real business.
APEC, thus, works on two levels: setting policy directions and solving practical problems. This year was no exception. APEC Leaders and Ministers faced many challenges -- proving APEC is a force for reform, proving APEC can push the global trading system, and proving APEC can cooperate on key trans-boundary initiatives. On all counts, I think we succeeded.
Part of what made this year critical was the fear of complacency and backsliding on reform efforts. The cooperative growth strategy adopted by Leaders last year has yielded some results. In many cases stock and currency markets have strengthened, growth projections are better than expected, and unemployment is waning. In some places, this has diminished the pressure for reform and restructuring. But Leaders responded to the challenge with a clear commitment to sustain the momentum for reform so as to make recovery durable and economic growth sustainable.
To promote further recovery, Leaders committed to strengthening markets through regulatory reform and enhanced competition, and improving the international framework governing trade and investment flows. They encouraged Finance Ministers to further efforts to strengthen domestic financial markets by enhancing supervision of financial markets, developing domestic bond markets, and applying better corporate governance principles. And they supported further efforts to strengthen the international financial architecture, for instance through the Financial Stability Forum and the new informal mechanism.
This year was also critical for APEC in the context of the upcoming World Trade Organization Ministerial in Seattle and the ensuing round of trade negotiations. This was an opportunity to ensure APEC continued to push the global trading system forward to more open markets. Once again, Leaders and Ministers made it clear that APEC will continue to play a leadership role in the multilateral trading system.
Leaders committed to launch and complete in three years a new round of WTO trade negotiations to include comprehensive market access negotiations covering industrial tariffs, agriculture, and services. The United States succeeded in building support for early results at the Seattle Ministerial to extend duty-free cyberspace, to reach agreement on transparency in government procurement, and to agree in 1999 on APEC's plan for accelerated tariff liberalization for eight key sectors and then finalize and implement the cuts in the year 2000. Leaders agreed to set eliminating agricultural export subsidies as one of the major goals of the new trade round. Armed with these commitments, APEC can present a united front in Seattle and Geneva, and once again exert its collective power to spur international trade and help set the foundation for greater prosperity throughout the world. A successful WTO round, in turn, will advance APEC economies' efforts to achieve the Bogor goals of free and open trade and investment by the years 2010 and 2020.
A final aspect of this year's meetings was the challenge for APEC to be relevant at a more specific level -- to deliver concrete results for business. Much of this work falls under the general heading of strengthening markets, which I mentioned earlier. The United States continues to believe that APEC economies need to go beyond the talk, the recommendations, and the principles of reform. That is why we are pushing hard for implementation of initiatives and projects to actually strengthen markets.
Leaders and Ministers adopted strengthening markets as a theme for future work within APEC and inside economies. They called for work to implement electronic commerce and natural gas initiatives aimed at setting the right legal and regulatory environment to attract private investment in these key sectors. Leaders pressed to implement steps to enhance and further liberalize air services. They called for implementation of recommendations to create an APEC Food System by developing the region's rural infrastructure, promoting trade in food products, and disseminating technology in food production and processing. And finally, Leaders adopted a Y2K 100 Days Initiative to ensure continued preparation for January 1, 2000.
What makes these initiatives stand out is that they all have been developed in close cooperation with the private sector. That is how we know we are headed in the right direction. The private sector has told us what the problems are and we have worked together to develop solutions. Now we need to work together to make the changes and create opportunities. We have some examples of works-in-progress such as modernizing Shanghai port customs procedures, working on auto standards and policies through the APEC Auto Dialogue, reaching agreements on standards to make it easier to sell electrical products in the region, or promoting the use of paperless trading to help trade flow more smoothly.
This was an important year for APEC to set the course for the next few years, and New Zealand as Chair met the challenge by crafting a visionary Leaders Declaration that is supported by a Ministerial Statement with a forward action-plan. APEC is firmly on track to continue reforms, pursue more open markets, and create opportunities to increase prosperity for the people of the region.
So now that we built this momentum, what does APEC 2000 have in store? Next year's host, Brunei, has expressed interest in e- commerce, small and medium sized enterprises, and youth. The United States intends to carry forward the message that implementation matters as much as developing principles, especially in key areas such as e-commerce, energy, and air services. We will continue to emphasize transparency and reform, including in the financial and corporate sectors. We want to look at what we can do in business facilitation, for instance in customs procedures, and standards harmonization. This can be particularly vital to small and medium sized enterprises for whom the barriers to trade are sometimes insurmountable. We want to ensure that trade liberalization remains at the center of APEC's agenda, and that work in economic and technical cooperation is supportive of trade liberalization. And we will explore enhancing APEC's ability to address broad regional issues like protecting the environment and strengthening legal frameworks.
APEC has set the groundwork that can yield good results in the coming years. We have many thoughts on what to pursue, but we need the direction of the private sector. One element of the meetings in Auckland was emphasis on the role of business, labor, academics, and others in the private sector, and the need to ensure that the benefits of opening up are shared throughout society. We need to hear what the problems are and how we can solve them. I am always willing to steal good ideas from any quarter. We also need your help in finding supporters for these ideas in other economies, and we need the support, expertise, and energy of the private sector in carrying through on implementing initiatives. I am confident APEC has the ability to achieve real results in the coming year. But I am not content with resting on our laurels. I would appreciate your input on new ideas that can bolster APEC's relevance to this dynamic region and promote sustainable economic growth.
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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State)
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