APEC summit kicks off in Singapore
SINGAPORE: The 20th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum kicked off in Singapore with a meeting of senior
officials on Sunday.
The forum brings together 21 members located around the
Pacific Ocean in an annual summit focused on economic growth, free
trade and investment.
More than 10,000 delegates, including leaders and ministers, are
expected at the week-long event in Singapore.
APEC leaders, including US President Barack Obama, Chinese
President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, will
meet on November 14 and 15.
APEC members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea,
Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
APEC's 21 member economies account for 40.5 percent of the world's
population, 54.2 percent of its gross domestic product and 43.7
percent of global trade.
The forum has worked to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers
across the region. It is guided by its "Bogor Goals" (named after
the 1994 summit venue in Indonesia) of free and open trade and
investment. Industrialised members were meant to achieve this by
2010 and developing economies by 2020.
APEC operates on the basis of non-binding commitments, and
decisions are reached by consensus.
This year, the forum comes at a time when global economies are just
recovering from the worst downturn in decades. Addressing the
issue, a draft APEC communique stressed that "economic recovery is
not yet on a solid footing" and "we will maintain our economic
stimulus policies until a durable economic recovery is
secured."
On climate change, APEC will call it "one of the biggest challenges
facing the world", according to the draft declaration.
The leaders will try to give a boost to a crunch global meeting on
climate change next month in Copenhagen. They will stress their
commitment to reaching a "good agreement in Copenhagen", according
to the draft communique.
The December gathering in the Danish capital will try to thrash out
a new treaty to tackle global warming, but preparatory talks have
become deadlocked.
APEC executive director Michael Tay said the discussions on climate
change were part of efforts to achieve sustainable economic
growth.
"One way is to look at energy efficiency, the sharing of best
practices, the sharing of technology," he told AFP. "We are also
looking at how to give better access for trade in environmental
goods and services."
- CNA/AFP/ir
