US Secretary of State Clinton outlines strategy for economic engagement with Asia-Pacific
Increased economic integration and long-term cooperation are vital for achieving greater prosperity for the Asia-Pacific, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she outlined the US strategy for economic engagement in the region.
Secretary Clinton was delivering opening remarks on Wednesday to the first meeting of APEC senior officials for 2011, which runs until March 12. The United States is hosting APEC this year with a focus on achieving practical and concrete achievements in advancing free trade and investment and strengthening economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.
The full remarks on video can be viewed here.
Describing the US priorities for APEC USA 2011, Secretary Clinton addressed the importance of creating jobs, addressing the social and environmental consequences of growth, and laying the groundwork for long-term prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
“For businesses to make inroads into new markets and for citizens to find jobs, we must better align our standards applying to everything from manufactured goods to buildings,” Secretary Clinton said. “We must improve the quality of our regulations to ensure that they are not unnecessarily burdensome.”
Building on the vision to promote stronger and deeper regional economic integration by advancing common trade and investment interests, Secretary Clinton said that APEC should help member economies achieve a 21st century economic agenda.
“So all of us need to be working on several levels at once – creating jobs, increasing trade and investment, fueling innovation, investing in education, and pursuing inclusive growth that pays off across populations.
“In 2011, we want APEC to help define, shape, and address next generation trade and investment issues, and to take steps to help reduce the time, cost, and uncertainty of moving goods through regional supply chains.
“We want to work through APEC to find ways to achieve environmentally sustainable growth by reducing barriers to trade in environmental goods and services, stopping illegal logging, eliminating inefficient fuel subsidies, and facilitating trade in remanufactured products to reduce waste and save energy.
“We want to work with APEC economies to strengthen the implementation of good regulatory practices to prevent technical barriers to trade, to increase regulatory cooperation particularly as it relates to emerging technologies.”
Secretary Clinton also told officials that the US wants APEC to help combat poverty through trade and work to prevent destabilizing spikes in international food prices by discouraging economies in the region from imposing export restrictions on food.
Details about APEC meetings, events, projects and publications can be found at www.apec.org or www.apec2011.gov. You can also follow APEC on Twitter and join us on Facebook.
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For more information, contact: Michael Chapnick +1 (202) 664 6245 at [email protected] or Trudy Harris + 65 6891 9671 or +65 98983710 at [email protected]