Sun, Oct 07, 2001 page3

• APEC leaders alter focus after attacks

  GLOBAL TRADE Economic analysts say discussions on terrorism won't take place at the upcoming Shanghai summit unless they are linked to other economic issues

  • By Monique Chu / STAFF REPORTER
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  The greatest challenge facing leaders during the upcoming APEC summit in Shanghai this month, the first key international meeting since the terrorist attacks in the US, is how best to promote trade amid the fight against terrorism, analysts say.

  In a paper published on Friday, Jane Skanderup, director for program development at Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based think tank, urged regional leaders to make the upcoming summit count by reviving trade liberalization objectives.

  "All of Asia faced declining exports, rising unemployment and bankruptcies, and growing fiscal outlays prior to Sept. 11, and the main policy approach ... relied on US recovery. Asian countries will now be best served by refocusing on internal restructuring and reviving trade liberalization goals," Skanderup argued.

  An early opportunity to galvanize regional political will toward these ends will come at the APEC summit to be held in Shanghai Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, Skanderup said.

  APEC has a bold free-trade agenda, as stated in the 1994 Bogor Declaration, although in practice it has made little headway. After promising in 1994 to remove trade barriers by 2010 for industrialized countries and by 2020 for developing members, the group had completed, by the end of 1998, only a third of its tariff-cutting goals.

  The recent surge of talks on regional trade agreements have also overshadowed APEC's trade liberalization objective. The topic took up a considerable amount of time at APEC's annual meeting in Brunei last year.

  But apart from the expected discussions on trade liberalization during the APEC summit in Shanghai, the US is expected to discuss terrorism in the wake of the attacks on US soil last month. But critics say the justification for such a discussion will be contingent upon its links to economic issues.

  "If the word `anti-terrorism' is inserted into the final statement, it will probably be directly linked to economic issues," said Mignon Chan (詹滿容), director general of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, a Singapore-based tripartite regional economic organization as well as one of APEC's three official observers.

  A report from Washington quoted a US official as saying that countries would look toward strengthening existing APEC schemes designed to cut off funds to terrorists, and improve security at airports and ports.

  "Surely the [final] statement is meant to garner support before a new round of multilateral trade liberalization talks begin when the 142 members of the WTO meet in Doha, Qatar, in November," said a member of Taipei's APEC delegation who declined to be named.

  Chan offered her prediction. "I don't think any strong wording will be included in the final statement" to avoid triggering any unnecessary animosity among APEC members, Chan said.

  Analysts and officials said the final statement by the leaders would be a compromise between the developing and industrialized nations of the group.

  While industrialized countries are looking out for themselves by stressing trade liberalization and open markets, developing countries, led by the host country China, places greater emphasis on economic and technological cooperation that they see as pivotal to their economic development.

  "The final statement will seek a balance between these two contrasting views," Chan said.

  In fact, a draft of the "Shanghai Accord," obtained by the Taipei Times, reflects the conflicting views Chan mentioned.

  For instance, in the APEC chair's draft on Sept. 15, Australia proposed pushing forward the so-called "Pathfinder Initiatives" as part of the industrialized nations' attempt to spur progress toward the Bogor goals. Even the fight over the title of the accord -- ranging from "initiatives" to "consensus" to "accord" -- reflected the conflicting views of APEC members, critics said.

  "The word `charter,' as originally proposed by the US, was not favored by some because they feared the word would imply that everything in the paper would be binding," said an official close to the negotiations.

  Although it remained uncertain whether the proposed Shanghai Accord would become part of the leaders' formal statement or merely become an annex to the statement, the official pointed out the tricky nature of the regional grouping.

  "The Pandora's box is open once again," said the official, referring to the fight between developing and industrialized countries over the draft.
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