Economic crisis and trade hog Apec talks

IT IS a wrap: The eight-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders' Week, which started in Singapore last Sunday, ended yesterday.

Over that period, political leaders and finance, foreign and trade ministers from the 21 Apec economies met to discuss various regional issues at Suntec Singapore and the Istana.

Here is an overview of what was discussed:

Dealing with the economic crisis

Apec leaders pledged not to withdraw economic stimulus packages until there is long-lasting economic recovery.

Apec finance ministers noted that the different stages of recovery in the region would have to be taken into account in determining the pace at which the packages are withdrawn.

Finance ministers also agreed on the need to find new sources of demand to continue growing, as the old patterns of demand before the financial crisis are not expected to return.

This entails reforms over the long term to improve the region's investment environment, incentivise spending in the private sector, and boost domestic purchasing power.

Speaking at the end of the meetings yesterday, Singapore's Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, said: "The global economy has begun to recover, with the Asia-Pacific region taking the lead. But we cannot go back to 'growth as usual'.

"We need a new growth strategy - one that meets the needs of the 21st-century global economy.

We will pursue growth which is balanced, inclusive, and sustainable, to ensure a durable recovery that will create jobs and benefit our people."

Furthering free trade

Apec leaders reaffirmed their commitment to rejecting protectionism, despite domestic pressures for anti-competitive steps.

They reiterated that the most effective means to deal with this is to meet the 2010 deadline of concluding the Doha Round, a series of trade talks aimed at forging an agreement to lower trade barriers.

The talks were launched by the World Trade Organization in Doha, Qatar, in 2001.

Apec leaders also pledged to make doing business in the region 25 per cent cheaper, faster and easier by 2015.

While they did not agree on a model for creating an Apec-wide free-trade area, they laid the foundations for this.

PM Lee said that Apec economies will continue to explore various pathways to set up the free-trade area, including an existing Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement among Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand and Chile.

The United States, Peru, Australia and Vietnam have expressed interest to join the agreement.

Promoting a new growth framework

Apec leaders also promised to pursue a "new growth paradigm" of balanced, inclusive and sustainable growth.

This involves making structural reforms, introducing policies that ensure no economies or workers are left out of the benefits of growth, and ensuring that growth is attained in an environment- friendly way.

kennyc@sph.com.sg

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