APEC Ministerial Meeting in Busan, Republic of Korea
(Overview and Evaluation)
November 25, 2005
I. Overview of the meeting
The Seventeenth APEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Busan, Republic of Korea on November 15-16. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Taro Aso, and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Toshihiro Nikai, of Japan, and other foreign ministers and trade ministers of the APEC member economies attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Ban Ki-Moon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and H.E. Hyun Chong Kim, Minister for Trade of Republic of Korea. The Joint Statement of the Seventeenth APEC Ministerial Meeting was adopted on November 16.
The following is an overview of the discussions.
1. Strengthening the multilateral trading system
| (1) | Ministers agreed that it was important for the Leaders to issue a strong and positive message to advance the Doha Round and in particular to achieve the success of the 6th WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong, China. |
| (2) | Foreign Minister Aso stated that (a) APEC should not reduce the level of ambition (the target level of the negotiation), (b) the only possible roadmap towards the full modalities (the negotiation rules shared by all members containing the figures for tariff reduction rates, etc. in each negotiating area) is to seek a middle ground among the various proposals on the table, and (c) the negotiations must be advanced so that they will meet the deadline for their conclusion by the end of 2006. |
2. Mid-term stocktake of the Bogor Goals
Ministers endorsed the Report on the Mid-term Stocktake for the Bogor Goals, which evaluated progress towards the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies, and outlines steps to be taken in the future to achieve the goals.
3. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
Ministers agreed that FTAs add value to liberalization achieved through the WTO framework and contribute to achieving the Bogor Goals. Building on the APEC Best Practices for Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), which serves as a meaningful reference for FTA negotiations, Ministers endorsed the Model Measures for Trade Facilitation in RTAs/FTAs, which list specific measures that will also serve as a reference for FTA negotiations.
4. Protection of intellectual property
Ministers agreed on the three guidelines including that concerning border controls, etc. [PDF]
as specific measures called for in the APEC Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative [PDF].
5. Enhancing human security
| (1) | Foreign Minister Aso announced that Japan intended to continue to undertake effective cooperation against infectious diseases based on its experiences of providing cooperation to combat avian influenza. Moreover, he pointed out that Japan is subject to frequent natural disasters, which gave it a lot of experience and know-how regarding disaster prevention, and stated that Japan would continue to actively contribute to disaster reduction efforts in the APEC region. |
| (2) | Regarding measures to combat avian influenza, a large number of economies noted that avian influenza is a threat to all economies. Moreover, they noted the importance of utilizing the knowledge of related international organizations, and ensuring transparency and preparedness. |
| (3) | Most Ministers were of the opinion that APEC should continue to make efforts in the areas of counter-terrorism and non-proliferation. They also noted the necessity of information sharing and joint action. Ministers agreed on specific counter-terrorism measures in relation to the early commencement of providing information on lost and stolen travel documents to the International Criminal and Police Organization (ICPO) database, a proposal being made by Japan. Moreover, Ministers noted the importance of the eradication of poverty and development in order to remove the root causes of terrorism and that it was wrong to think of terrorism as associated with any specific religion. |
| (4) | In addition, Ministers agreed on initiatives concerning (a) the secure handling of radioactive sources [PDF], (b) Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) [PDF] and (c) Total Supply Chain Security [PDF]. |
| (5) | Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nikai gave a keynote address on the energy issue. |
6. Structural reform
In response to last year's adoption of the Leaders' Agenda to Implement Structural Reform (LAISR), a document indicating the agenda which APEC must give priority to in the area of structural reform, Ministers welcomed the adoption of the APEC Work Plan on LAISR towards 2010 (LAISR 2010), which sets out a roadmap for implementation of LAISR which was drafted under the initiative of Japan.
7. APEC reform
Ministers endorsed the proposal on APEC reform compiled by the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in response to Ministers' instructions in 2004 that APEC should implement reforms to enable an appropriate response to issues faced by the Asia-Pacific region.
8. Future meetings
Ministers welcomed Japan's announcement that it would host the APEC 2010 (it has already been decided that future APEC meetings will be hosted by Viet Nam in 2006, Australia in 2007, Peru in 2008, and Singapore in 2009).
9. Miscellaneous
In the chair's press conference after the conclusion of the meeting, Ban, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Korea as chairman of the meeting welcomed the development in the Six-Party Talks and stated that it was important to make efforts to achieve further progress in the Six-Party Talks, and that further progress in the Six-Party Talks would contribute to trade facilitation and economic growth in the APEC region.
II. Evaluation of the meeting
- The reaffirmation by the Ministers of the importance of achieving ambitious and balanced results toward the success of the WTO Doha Round negotiations and of the importance of strong political leadership and involvement to that end was very timely, given that the 6th WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong is due to be held next month.
- The Report on the Mid-Term Stocktake for the Bogor Goals not only evaluated the results achieved to date but also specified the steps that must be taken by APEC in future, taking into account the new international business environment. This is a key achievement. This roadmap clearly specified that future efforts should focus on "Behind-the-Border Issues," including structural reform, protection of intellectual property, and so forth, which Japan considers to be priority areas.
- Concrete results were achieved in the security sector. These included confirmation by Ministers that APEC would continue to make efforts in the areas of counter-terrorism and non-proliferation and Ministers' endorsement of the APEC Initiative on Preparing for and Mitigating an Influenza Pandemic in response to the threat of avian influenza.
- It was endorsed that Japan would host the APEC process in 2010, a watershed year for APEC. This is an important opportunity for Japan to demonstrate leadership in regional cooperation through APEC.
- Taking the opportunity of this multilateral meeting, Foreign Minister, Aso, held bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Viet Nam, the Republic of Korea, Australia, the United States, the Russian Federation and Malaysia and had meaningful exchanges of opinions on the regional situation and international issues.
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