APEC to set direction in Jakarta for long-term growth
APEC officials have begun gathering in Jakarta for their first group of policy meetings during Indonesia’s 2013 chairmanship, intent on making progress on an agenda that promotes resilient growth and a better foundation for economic development in the region.
The meetings bring together a range of APEC working groups to identify mechanisms to further enable free and open trade and investment, promote sustainable growth with equity and improve regional connectivity—APEC’s three priorities for 2013. They will culminate with the first APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting on 6-7 February to help steer members’ work in the coming months.
“When we [APEC Leaders and Ministers] meet up in Bali later this year at APEC in October and also at the next ministerial conference for the WTO in December, we’ve got to make sure that we’re moving in the right direction,” said Indonesia’s Trade Minister Gita Wirjawa in a speech in Singapore on the eve of APEC’s preliminary meetings in nearby Jakarta.
Sustaining the momentum that has been achieved recently by APEC economies is crucial, Wirjawa noted. Some inroads include a commitment to reducing tariffs to five percent or less on a significant number of environmental goods by the end of 2015, resisting measures inconsistent with WTO commitments and improving trade facilitation.
“The focus of APEC members on enhancing economic integration and trade and investment conditions for businesses has helped enable them to better weather global uncertainty,” said Dr. Alan Bollard, the APEC Secretariat’s Executive Director. “This is reflected in the region’s growth rebound in late 2012, after a period of moderation, and the current market view that sees 2013 as the year when a wider range of economies to return to more robust growth.”
The APEC region’s real gross domestic product growth is projected to have been 4.1 percent in 2012, the same as in 2011 though below its 5.6 percent growth rate in 2010, according to an analysis by the APEC Policy Support Unit In 2013, it is expected to rise to 4.3 percent, outpacing the rest of the world which is expected to grow less than three percent.
“The planning and technical discussions now taking place in Jakarta will help APEC members pursue additional measures to seed this revival and help deliver more jobs, higher wages and improved standards of living, Dr. Bollard added. “This work is guided by a belief that economic resilience and sustainable growth are more readily achieved when the region works together.”
Investment facilitation, customs procedure streamlining and capacity building to improve emergency preparedness and management in the event of disasters such as this month’s floods here in Jakarta are some of the specific issues that will be addressed by APEC economies over the next two weeks.
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