Transparency Key To Asia-Pacific Trade And Investment Growth

The '2002 APEC Committee on Trade and Investment Annual Report' will be presented to Ministers and Leaders of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Los Cabos, Mexico next week.

The annual report presents Ministers with an outline of accomplishments and recommendations designed to improve trade and investment between APEC economies.

Chair of the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment, Ms Ng Kim Neo, said an important issue in this year's report is the reduction of transaction costs to businesses involved in cross-border trade.

"An important part of realizing the APEC goal of creating the world's largest free trade and investment area by the years 2010 for industrialized APEC economies and 2020 for developing ones, is the reduction of transaction costs and red tape," said Ms. Ng.

"The Committee on Trade and Investment has laid out a number of recommendations such as increased transparency in the trade and investment policies of APEC economies".

"Increased transparency of policies and procedures between economies enables a healthier economic environment where the business sector can plan with greater certainty and predictability in cross-border trading activities."

The APEC Ministerial Meeting will be held 23-24 October and the APEC Leader's Meeting takes place 26-27 October in Los Cabos, Mexico.

Full copies of the "2002 APEC Committee on Trade and Investment Report to Ministers" will be available at the Los Cabos meetings or may be obtained from the APEC Secretariat in Singapore.