Asia-Pacific business presented five priorities in trade sphere
APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) prepared a draft of annual recommendations for the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade. The document contains five key business recommendations aimed at promoting sustained growth, development and higher living standards in the region.
Of deepest concern to the business community is a rise in protectionism. ABAC recommends that Ministers continue to promote open markets for trade in goods, services and investment flows. At the same time, the ABAC members believe it is imperative that governments and business get on the front foot with real and meaningful measures that promote inclusiveness and the sharing of the benefits of economic growth.
As representatives of businesses in the region, the ABAC members acknowledge their responsibility to establish business models that address issues of inclusion wherever possible, including measures to better engage with work forces in transitions to new business models and retraining and upgrading skills of our workers. They call on Ministers to introduce policies that support an inclusive trading environment and take advantage of productivity gains that can be generated by increasing digitization and innovation. They also call on Ministers to implement measures that will facilitate the integration of small and medium enterprises into domestic and global supply chains.
Opportunities to implement real and meaningful measures will flow from effective structural reforms that release barriers to better resource allocation and that drive efficiencies through competition. As the ABAC noted in its letter, “While we face disruption in many forms arising from digitization and innovation, we must ensure that the benefits arising from those forces provide the basis for sustained growth in employment opportunities and in growth in real incomes”. These objectives are central to APEC’s ongoing work. ABAC applauds APEC’s agenda; the ABAC members urge Ministers to commit to implementing actions and policies that give effect to that agenda. ABAC commits fully to further developing and helping in the implementation of the agenda.
ABAC remains committed to the FTAAP and the ABAC members urge APEC economies to maintain momentum and give priority to pursuing the steps outlined in the Lima Leaders’ Declaration to progress towards FTAAP. ABAC is undertaking work to update business inputs to the FTAAP work program, taking into consideration the significantly changed trade policy environment since the Lima Declaration, including the impact of advances in technology and the rise in public sentiments questioning globalization. This work will be a multi-year program, but initial outcomes will be available to Ministers and Leaders later this year. According to the ABAC, the FTAAP should be incorporated as a core element in the APEC Post-2020 vision.
ABAC recognizes the critical role that predictable policy environments, with high standards of governance, play in enhancing and supporting investment flows between our economies. The ABAC members acknowledge the balance that must be struck between promoting foreign investment and implementing public policy regulation. They welcome the agreement by the parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes a range of provisions that attempt to find this balance, guaranteeing basic protections to investors while also providing a range of safeguards for public policy, and hope that this agreement will provide a positive step towards a broader region-wide FTAAP agreement in the future. ABAC will contribute to work initiated in the APEC Investment Experts’ Group aimed at further enhancement to APEC’s Investment Facilitation Action Plan and to new generation investment principles.
The letter emphasizes that the APEC economies must position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the internet and digital economy. Effective integration into the internet and digital economy requires investment in skills training, digital literacy and infrastructure. It also requires effective regulatory policies that will encourage and not inhibit trade and innovation, while continuing to support and protect appropriate domestic public policy making priorities. The ABAC members urge APEC economies to ensure the free movement of data throughout the region.
The final ABAC letter will be released in May 2018 on the eve of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting in Port Moresby.