A Conversation with Ambassador Colin Heseltine
APEC Newsletter (APEC E): How do you see the initiatives that were begun in 2006 being taken forward?
Ambassador Colin Heseltine (CH): As part of the process of revitalizing APEC it is important to ensure that we focus on the key issues identified by Leaders. In this regard, Australia as host in 2007 is keen to move away from the past tendency in which the APEC host economy, in a way, has set particular priorities and agenda items which are of interest to it. Obviously the host economy, as any other member economy, will always have certain areas on which it would like to see particular progress. However Australia's approach as host economy is not to set "Australian" themes and objectives but to pursue the priorities and objectives already agreed by Leaders. Just weeks ago we had the APEC Leaders' and Ministerial Meetings in Ha Noi which set priorities and objectives for the period ahead. From Australia's point of view for 2007, Australia's priorities and objectives are APEC's priorities and objectives, as identified in Ha Noi in November.
APEC E: What are the key objectives for APEC during 2007?
CH: In particular, APEC, including Australia as host, is keen to see the strengthening of the multilateral trading system. 2007 comes at a difficult time for the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA) process. When the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting is held in Canberra in January, we will not know the fate of the DDA Round. One of the challenges for APEC will be to work out as best we can where APEC can add real value to the WTO process. At this stage it's difficult to predict what this will be - a lot will depend on what is happening in Geneva. But the WTO is clearly a key priority area for APEC.
The second priority area for APEC is the trade facilitation agenda with particular emphasis now on behind-the-border issues. These are of particular interest and concern to businesses in our region. In 2007 we can envisage, consistent with the Ha Noi outcomes, progress being made on a range of trade facilitation issues. Economic structural reform is also a key behind-the border issue of interest. In 2007 the APEC Economic Committee will be placing major focus on this area and I expect that we will see some real progress.
The third area of interest is human security which also includes counter-terrorism and secure trade, emergency preparedness and ensuring that APEC member economies are able to deal with pandemics and other such crises.
APEC Leaders in Ha Noi also laid particular emphasis on energy security which is of increasing interest to APEC member economies. Certainly there's greater awareness now of the importance of energy security, not just in APEC economies but in the whole world. The fact that APEC member economies include not only major suppliers of energy resources but also major consumers makes this a critical issue on the APEC agenda. It also places APEC in a particularly strong position to address issues of energy security and related issues of climate change and sustainability.
Finally, an area where APEC Leaders have paid particular attention is APEC reform. As part of APEC's work in 2007 we'll see a continuation of the process of revitalizing APEC by improving its structures, its decision-making processes and its linkages with stakeholders. These include efforts to improve the operational efficiency of the APEC Secretariat. I expect during the course of 2007 much attention will be given to this issue.
APEC E: What is Australia doing differently this year?
CH: Australia's main aim is to see that APEC retains its status as the pre-eminent Asia-Pacific organization promoting economic growth and trade. APEC must be highly focused and more efficient and effective in the way it conducts its activities. There are certainly things that Australia sees as important for improving APEC's operational efficiency and effectiveness. For example, in January 2007 Australia will begin by holding the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) as the first APEC event of the year with all the technical working group meetings being held afterwards. The purpose of this is to enable Senior Officials to address the key decisions taken by Leaders in November in Ha Noi at a strategic policy level. They will then work out a program for implementation and pass their decisions on to the working groups. This way it will be a top-down process which is the most effective way to manage the work of such a wide ranging agenda.
As I've already mentioned Australia is keen not to try and re-invent the APEC agenda just because it is host. Australia will be focusing very much on implementing the outcomes that were agreed by Leaders and Ministers in Ha Noi in November 2006 rather than trying to come up with some new set of Australian initiatives.
APEC E: During your more than 30 years in foreign affairs, including several postings in key APEC economies, what significant Asia-Pacific policy decisions have you been involved in and what changes have you witnessed?
CH: In the past 30 years by far the most important change has been the enormous growth and vitality of the Asia-Pacific region. If you compare where the region is now with where it was in 1969 when I joined the Australian Government, it's been truly a breathtaking change. There have been a number of phases.
Early on in this period, perhaps the key issue was the role of Japan and how to absorb and integrate its enormous economic growth into the region as a whole in such a way that all regional economies would benefit. Certainly, by the time APEC was formed in 1989, integrating Japan's economic growth into the region, as well as ensuring that the United States remained fully engaged in the Asia-Pacific region, were among the key driving forces in the establishment of APEC.
Since then there have been many new and dramatic changes, notably the tremendous economic growth in China. It's fair to say that what is now driving APEC's agenda as much as anything is how to integrate China's economic growth into the region to benefit of all members of the region, including of course China itself.
In my own case, having spent many years in China during the early years of economic reform in the 1980s through to the 1990s, I've been privileged to be present and to observe these changes from the beginning and to see where they have led. In the late 1980s in Beijing I was directly involved in discussions with China on its APEC membership. China's subsequent membership has of course been of tremendous benefit to APEC and to the region.
APEC E: Can you describe how you will lead the Secretariat?
CH: The key goal of the APEC agenda is to reform the way APEC carries out its activities, to make it more focused and streamlined and to ensure that it does well those things it is mandated to do. In this way we can make sure APEC doesn't get involved in areas that are either being duplicated in other international or regional bodies, or which aren't regarded by APEC Leaders as being of high priority. There are also the procedural issue of how meetings are conducted and how to make them more effective.
As part of the process to revitalize APEC, there's the issue of the APEC Secretariat itself - what sort of Secretariat do APEC member economies want and what role do they want it to have? Until now, the Secretariat has very much been a support organization. It's had no policy role, fairly limited functions and has been a very loosely structured organization. How to strengthen the role of the Secretariat is a big issue for APEC.
With APEC's growing agenda, with new tasks being undertaken, especially in micro-economic areas, and with member economies providing more funds for projects, we need a Secretariat with a stronger capability. As Executive Director during 2007 I will personally be involved in this process of change. It will, I'm sure, be an interesting and challenging part of the job. Certainly, the Secretariat is already undergoing changes and I'm sure by the end of 2007 and on into the future it will evolve into something that is different from what it is now. It will be an organization with a stronger capability, and I hope better able to serve the needs of Senior Officials, Ministers and Leaders.
Ambassador Heseltine succeeds Ambassador Tran Trong Toan from Viet Nam whose term at the APEC Secretariat was completed on 31 December 2006. Ambassador Juan Carlos Capuñay from Peru will be the next Deputy Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat from early 2007. Ambassador Capuñay will serve as the Executive Director when Peru assumes host responsibilities for the APEC process in 2008.