Business Leaders Call for an Aggressive Plan for Trade Facilitation and Liberalization in 2005 - ABAC Meeting Concludes in Mexico City
The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) held its first meeting of 2005 in Mexico City on February 21-24, which included sessions with Mexico's President, Vicente Fox, Ministers, and senior Mexican businesspeople.
ABAC believes pressure is building in the Asia-Pacific business community for substantial progress on trade liberalization and facilitation in 2005. ABAC came out strongly on these issues at its meeting.
The primary goal and focus of ABAC remains a successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda. The ongoing WTO negotiations represent the best hope for creating the conditions and rules to ensure the growth of the world's economy. ABAC members are committed to working within their own economies, throughout the region, and in Geneva, to support the important WTO work in the areas of services, NAMA and Trade Facilitation. Without progress in these key areas the WTO negotiations will not succeed.
After more than a decade of slow progress with APEC's own reform efforts, ABAC has moved to respond decisively to the call by APEC Leaders in last November's Santiago Initiative for clear guidance on practical and immediate ways to advance the APEC trade agenda. On ABAC's radar is the potential for reform of APEC itself, so that the regional body can more quickly and more effectively expand trade and enhance economic growth. ABAC wants to see serious consideration of the potential for APEC to ask for much firmer - even binding - commitments from its member economies on trade reform. ABAC is working energetically to put bold initiatives to Leaders directly and through the mid-term review of APEC, which is currently looking at every aspect of the economic forum?s performance and potential.
The Capacity Building Working Group of ABAC discussed recommendations to government aimed at building awareness and support for the region's SMEs involved in the services sector. Over 75% of companies in all APEC economies are services SMEs. ABAC has asked APEC to set bold targets to increase services trade by SMEs, such as doubling the number of SME service exporters in each APEC economy by 2007. This will require providing technical assistance to APEC developing economies, including training of SMEs and successful services exporting.
In the wake of the Tsunami disaster ABAC is working to develop specific recommendations to APEC Leaders on how the region's business community can better coordinate with governments in responding to future disasters, whether natural, environmental, or man-made.