Chinatrust Financial Holding Corp (中信金控) chairman Jeffrey Koo (辜濂松) is slated to lead a 10-member business delegation to the fourth APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) conference and the trade body's CEO Summit meeting to be held in Chile next month.
At a press conference yesterday, Koo said the delegation will discuss several subjects, including trade liberalization, free-trade agreements, regional economic advantages and financial stability, with their ABAC counterparts.
The theme of this year's APEC CEO Summit is "Succeeding in a Global World: New Challenges for Business."
"Facing the trend of globalization, the biggest challenge for businesses today will be expanding businesses with other trade partners in the world," Koo told reporters following the delegation's preparatory meeting held earlier yesterday morning.
To facilitate trade and investment liberalization, the trade body is also expected to brainstorm a proposal, brought up by Canada and Chile in May, to explore the possibility of establishing an Asia-Pacific free trade zone, said Henry Kao (
Establishing a regional free trade zone will save a lot of trouble for Asian countries planning to conduct bilateral talks to ink free-trade pacts with other countries in the region, and will pave the way to establishing a borderless economy, Kao said.
"Asians might be enabled to travel freely in the region without visas," he said.
At the ABAC meeting with world leaders, Kao will share a table with US President George W. Bush and Koo with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, while Theodore Huang (黃茂雄), chairman of the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (
Huang said earlier this year that he was interested in making Russia-bound investments.
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