|
A GROUP
of developing member-countries of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (Apec) faces difficulty when big
economies like the US and the European Union (EU) push
for a free- trade deal within the bloc, said an official
of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Senior
officials and trade ministers are gathered in Cairns,
Australia, for the Apec Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM)
and Apec meeting for ministers responsible for trade
from June 29 to July 4, and the third SOM-Apec in
Cairns, Australia, on July 5 and 6, to discuss the
possibility of coming up with an Asia-Pacific free-trade
agreement (FTA-AP) for the 21 member countries.
DFA
undersecretary for international economic affairs Edsel
Custodio said developing countries in Apec, like the US,
Australia and Canada, have been pushing for an FTA-AP to
facilitate trade.
He said
the campaign for a free trade deal in the Pacific Rim is
expected to intensify with the collapse of the G4 (EU,
US, Brazil and India) meeting last week that was aimed
to revive the Doha negotiations.
“The
position of the developing countries of Asean, except
Singapore. . . we have some concerns about turning Apec
into a negotiating forum and coming up with a free trade
area,” said Custodio in an interview prior to his trip
to Cairns over the weekend.
Custodio
said the political difference of some member-countries
of Apec is expected to affect the supposed objectives of
the FTA. He cited China, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong.
“Can we
really negotiate considering the type of members that we
have? [referring to China, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong]
Can they be participants in the negotiating process
which involves certain sovereignty issues?” asked
Custodio.
“I don’t
think it’s appropriate to turn Apec into a negotiation
forum as it negates its basic objective of cooperation
agreement,” he said.
Custodio
said that at the senior officials and ministers for
trade meetings in Cairns, developing countries from
Asean, including the
Philippines,
will push for the adoption of a regional economic
integration (REI) instead of a free trade deal.
“Under
the regional economic integration, there are many
elements that you can use to continue the
Bogor goals,” he said.
Bogor goals are commitments of Apec members to implement
free and open trade and investments for developed
countries by 2010 and 2020 for developing economies.
He added
that the REI would also push for Apec’s trade and
investment liberalization process where developed
countries are expected to reduce tariffs based on the
Bogor goals.
“Now if
they [rich Apec member-countries] shy away from the
Bogor goals because of the free trade ambition, that
requires negotiation and we don’t know how long the
negotiation will be and whether the negotiation will be
successful. The
Bogor
goals of 2010 will no longer be realized, which is a
commitment made by developed countries,” said Custodio.
Later,
he warned that “Apec has proven to be just a talking
shop.”
Apec is
composed of the following: the Philippines, Vietnam,
Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore,
Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the US. |
