Japan's Views on and Contribution to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum
The Asia-Pacific region, brimming with diversity in the history, culture, social structures and economic development of its individual countries, has achieved spectacular economic success in recent years and has asserted itself as an engine for global economic growth. In 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was formed as a forum for economies in this dynamic region to cooperate at the government level, and it has shown steady development since then. APEC's cooperation has gained political momentum since the first APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, held in Seattle in November 1993, and hence has entered a new and more productive phase.
APEC--Aiming to Liberalize Trade and Investment
The leaders of the 18 member economies of APEC gathered at Bogor Palace in Indonesia in November 1994 and issued the Bogor Declaration, in which they made a commitment to achieving the goal of free and open trade and investment no later than the year 2020. (The pace of implementation will take into account the differing levels of economic development among APEC economies, with the industrialized economies achieving the goal of free and open trade and investment no later than the year 2010 and developing economies no later than the year 2020.)
In the Bogor Declaration, the leaders directed their ministers and officials to make concrete proposals on trade and investment liberalization. It is also required that the liberalization in APEC be achieved in a manner that is consistent with the global multilateral free trade system centering on the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In the Action Agenda to be adopted at the APEC Osaka Meetings scheduled for November 1995, the mid- and long-term framework for liberalization in APEC will be indicated.
The liberalization is being discussed at the APEC Senior Officials Meetings (SOM), and Japan, as the APEC Chair this year, is making best efforts to coordinate the opinions of the member economies.
Economic and Technical Cooperation
At the 1994 APEC Ministerial Meeting held in Jakarta, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono emphasized the importance of further promoting the reduction of barriers to trade and investment in order to further stimulate the economic dynamism of the Asia-Pacific region, and simultaneously stressed the importance of reduction of economic disparity and promotion of overall cooperation and prosperity within the region. He said that facilitation and liberalization of trade/investment and economic/technical cooperation for development are two wheels on the same axle to bring about growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Within APEC, cooperation has long been promoted in the spheres of human resources development, infrastructure development, fostering small and medium enterprises and others, and the Bogor Declaration has given further momentum to even more efforts to promote cooperation in these areas. In the process of drafting the Action Agenda toward the Osaka Meetings, the areas of cooperation have been identified as one of two important pillars, and in addition to the efforts of the existing working groups, new directions for cooperation are under consideration.
Furthermore, the "Partners for Progress" concept proposed by Foreign Minister Kono in Jakarta envisions expanding the network of cooperation to all member economies as a means of furthering cooperation within APEC, and consideration is being given to concrete development of the "Partners for Progress" concept in the efforts underway to draft the Action Agenda.
Japan and APEC
As the role that the Asia-Pacific region plays in the world economy in the 21st century expands, Japan views APEC as the central forum for cooperation toward the economic development of the Asia-Pacific region. Considering the remarkable pace of dynamic economic development being witnessed in recent years in this region, taking the lead in the economic cooperation of the Asia-Pacific region and accurately grasping the direction of the development of the region are of vital importance to the future of Japan.
As a result of the Bogor Declaration, APEC has reached a stage of clarifying the mid- and long-term objectives and building the solidarity among members. As APEC Chair this year, Japan is determined to take the lead in the compilation of the Action Agenda. While this is indeed no easy task, at this important turning point in the APEC process, the eyes of the world are focused on Japan's chairing of the important APEC Meetings to be held in Osaka in November 1995, and Japan intends to display its leadership.
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