*EPF402 08/10/00
APEC Making Open Trade Part of "Orthodoxy" in Asia-Pacific Region
(U.S. Senior Official for APEC addresses Global Business forum) (470)
By Karen Mah
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum has been more successful in making open trade policies part of the "orthodoxy" of the Asia-Pacific region than has been generally recognized, according to Lawrence Greenwood, Jr., U.S. senior official for APEC.

Working with a small budget and staff, APEC often acts more quickly than organizations with closer ties to national trade ministries to promote free-trade policies within the Asia-Pacific region and to project its influence outside the region in forums such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), Greenwood said at a Global Business Dialogue colloquium held August 10 at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.

"It's getting harder and harder for the privileged few to continue to justify policies that benefit themselves at the expense of the prosperity of the entire population," Greenwood told attendees at the colloquium "Pieces of the Puzzle: Trade Initiatives and Growth in Asia."

Ambassador Le Van Bang of Vietnam, who also addressed the colloquium, said the bilateral trade agreement signed July 13, 2000 by the United States and Vietnam shows that Vietnam has developed a better understanding of the benefits lower U.S. tariffs and accordance with WTO standards will have.

Greenwood said APEC now faces the challenge of translating its vision of economic cooperation into concrete action so Asia-Pacific economies will be able to take advantage of open markets and technological advances such as electronic commerce and express delivery systems.

The United States hopes APEC economies can learn the value of open market procedures by studying what the United States has done right and what it has done wrong, Greenwood said.

Since commitments in APEC are voluntary, members are "free to continue bad policies if they wish," Greenwood remarked.

APEC needs to continue serving as a "catalyst for economic cooperation" because some of its member economies are not keeping up with the world as a whole, he said.

Without cooperation between the United States and Japan, the two largest economies in APEC and the world, APEC will not advance, Greenwood said.

Tadashi Izawa, minister of international, industry and energy affairs, said Asian economies would have benefited from more support from APEC and the United States during the Asian financial crisis.

Additionally, it will be necessary to give China assistance in meeting WTO standards, Izawa said.

Greenwood responded that a movement in APEC to help economies with capacity building will complement discussions taking place between the United States and China in Beijing and in the WTO about giving China assistance in meeting WTO standards.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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