Asia-Pacific leaders making up half the global economy on Sunday voiced hope that the global financial crisis would be over within 18 months.
The gathering in Peru marked the farewell to international summits for US President George W. Bush, who won hope for one last-minute breakthrough as new talks were scheduled on ending North Korea’s nuclear program.
The leaders of the 21-member APEC forum vowed in a joint declaration to “act quickly and decisively” against the global economic crisis, although they offered no specific new action.
In an unusual move, a separate statement on the global economy released on Saturday was modified in the middle of the night to voice more optimism.
“We are convinced that we can overcome this crisis in a period of 18 months,” the added language said.
Delegates said that the stronger wording came at the urging of Peruvian President Alan Garcia, the host of the summit.
“We have agreed on this firm statement that will break the vicious circle of anxiety and uncertainty,” Garcia said. “We are going to fight this crisis to the bitter end.”
He spoke in front of leaders gathered next to him in shapeless brown ponchos, fulfilling an APEC tradition of wearing local outfits for the final group picture.
Some leaders, particularly Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, had to be convinced not to take off the wool mountain cloaks as they stood to listen to Garcia’s address.
Not all APEC leaders were convinced either that the crisis would be over by mid-2010.
“I think it would be premature to speculate on that kind of timeline,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the timeframe was only an estimate.
“Dates that get mentioned in statements like this reflect the estimates worked out by different representatives of each government,” he said.
Dan Price, Bush’s adviser for the summit, said that Garcia had added the 18-month timeframe, reflecting the view of some in the region.
Price said he saw “very, very strong” sentiment at APEC to revive WTO talks by meeting a year-end deadline to find a solution on a key dispute between rich and developing nations.
“The conviction to get it done was unprecedented,” Price said.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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