APEC Leaders Address Regional Business Interests
As part of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting program, Leaders from APEC Member Economies met with members of the business community at the annual APEC CEO Summit. Leaders and delegates discussed the challenges of creating an Asia Pacific community, APEC's priorities and challenges for the future.
In his address to delegates, Dr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the APEC CEO Summit 2006, said, "The APEC CEO Summit will be another opportunity for business leaders to deliberate on the most imperative issues that will advance APEC towards a community of sustainable development.
"We believe that Asia-Pacific business leaders will discover abundant business and investment opportunities in Viet Nam, one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Participants heard from several APEC Economic Leaders over the past few days who stressed the importance of pursuing policies that promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong offered lessons from east Asian economies which have successfully competed for foreign direct investment. "Besides embracing globalization, economies need to create a predictable macroeconomic environment. And there should be a fair and competitive economic landscape. Pursuing micro and macroeconomic reforms, governments cannot rush into the process. Government must build consensus with key players," said Prime Minister Lee.
"Governments need to build sustainability for the future. It means building sound institutions and preventing corruption.
"When governments get together in forums such as APEC, our key responsibility is to secure cross-border flows and to mitigate risks. This is the challenge for our economies," concluded Prime Minister Lee.
But sustaining economic reforms presents challenges for governments and business. Both Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark provided case studies from their respective economies. Chile and New Zealand are linked through the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, a multilateral trade agreement that also includes Singapore and Brunei.
Both Leaders recognized that measured changes are preferable to radical upheavals to achieve structural and economic reforms.
"The main idea is to be responsible so that our people will see benefits in a sustainable way," said President Bachelet.
Confirming President Bachelet's suggestions, Prime Minister Clark said, "New Zealand is better positioned now to respond to economic challenges as they arise.
"Our agriculture is not subsidized. We do not support it through distortionary policies. We know we have to be strategic, smart, and skilled to take our economy through the 21st century.
"Steady ongoing change and transformation delivers more sustainable results for the long run," said Prime Minister Clark.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shared America's vision for APEC which transcends simple cooperation, and looks to the emergence of a true Asia-Pacific Economic Community, spanning the public sphere and the private sector.
"Since the creation of APEC, the combined wealth of our economies has grown by 66%. Today, nearly two-thirds of all U.S. trade occurs with our friends in the Asia-Pacific. And the benefits on this side of the ocean are plain for all to see: people in this region are lifting themselves out of poverty in greater numbers and with greater speed than ever before in human history.
"In order to foster trade, we must also facilitate travel. Therefore, the United States has decided this year to recognize the APEC Business Travel Card, as the first step toward joining the program. This will enable entrepreneurs like you to gain visas, to move through our immigration lines, and to visit America - in a faster, safer, easier manner," said Secretary Rice. The APEC Business Travel Card provides cardholders with pre-cleared short-term entry into participating APEC Member Economies.
Officials also heard from Australia Prime Minister John Howard, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Malaysia Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, Thailand Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and Viet Nam President Nguyen Minh Triet.
"We should remind ourselves that more needs to be done to achieve our common goal of a secure and prosperous regional community in which trade, investment and technology flow freely," concluded Dr. Loc in his closing remarks.