APEC Business Advisory Council Priorities for 2009 and Beyond
By Teng Theng Dar, 2009 Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council
The recovery of world trade - which is expected to decline by 9% this year - is topmost in the minds of business leaders in the region. As the voice of business in APEC, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has a particularly onerous responsibility this year, to convey both the immediate actions we'd like to see plus make recommendations for the longer term.
Usually ABAC talks directly to APEC Leaders during a dialogue session at the end of the year, and in an annual report to Economic Leaders outlines the priorities and concerns of the private sector and makes recommendations for policy-makers.
This year, in response to the extreme circumstances faced by the region's businesses, we've sent interim letters to APEC Leaders, APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade and to the nine APEC Leaders involved in the G20 Summit, urging them to do everything possible to stimulate trade and investment and to restore market confidence.
Specifically ABAC has called on APEC Leaders to reject protectionism and to keep the promises made in the Lima 2008 APEC Leaders' Statement on the Global Economy. ABAC is currently monitoring the introduction of potentially trade-restrictive measures in all APEC member economies and is using the WTO's trade review reports as the basis for our analysis. The overall impact of these measures on trade and investment will be considered and discussed at ABAC's next meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam in August.
ABAC also considers further multilateral liberalisation essential, so we've called on Leaders and Ministers to push hard for a prompt conclusion to the WTO Doha Development Round negotiations.
Simultaneously we've been pursuing our 2009 theme, "Building towards the Bogor Goals with One Community", and our three priority areas: accelerating regional economic integration; championing the need for a model of sustainable development to support growth; and strengthening capacity building and enhancing connectivity.
To achieve APEC's Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment, ABAC will continue to promote and push for the development of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). ABAC considers the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement one possible building block towards the FTAAP.
To facilitate regional economic integration, ABAC is currently identifying critical impediments to cross-border business and will continue to advocate for a pro-business regulatory environment that improves the ease of doing business. In March this year, ABAC launched an Ease of Doing Business Survey to seek inputs from the business community on the priority areas of regulatory reform that should be implemented by governments. The survey findings will be shared at relevant APEC meetings for discussion and action, to help shape APEC's agenda and policies.
From a business perspective speed is of the essence. Border policies that restrict the movement of labour, capital and goods are considered potential chokepoints, so greater mobility for these factors is high on the ABAC agenda. We will therefore continue to campaign for increased international labour mobility; stronger capital markets; adoption of the "Single Window" approach; implementation of Authorised Economic Operators programs and enhanced connectivity in supply chains, logistics & transport.
Championing the need for a model of sustainable development to support growth is not a pipe dream for ABAC, so we're calling on APEC governments to develop a clear legal and regulatory framework for environmental protection. Liberalisation of trade in environmental goods and services; promotion of energy security and efficiency; development of green technologies; capacity building and showcasing best practices for sustainable cities; and implementation of the APEC Food System: these are some of ABAC's recommended reforms to make the region more eco-friendly.
This year, ABAC will also place more emphasis on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs employ the majority of the workforce in the APEC region and make a significant contribution to their respective economies. But SMEs are among the first at risk during times of financial crisis due to resource constraints and a lack of supportive programmes to cushion them from negative market impacts. ABAC is therefore urging APEC governments to provide support programs in the areas of technological infrastructure, financing capacity building and training. We're also stressing the importance to SMEs in particular of improving the regulatory environment and enhancing connectivity and market access.
To help address these issues, we have organised four APEC SME Summits for 2009. The objective is to provide SMEs with some of the knowledge and tools they need to survive, and to help them make their teams and organisations more agile and resilient so that they can face what could be a long-lasting downturn.
In 2009, as Singapore hosts APEC, ABAC intends to lay a strong foundation so that its work can be built upon and brought to fruition when Japan and the United States play host, in 2010 and 2011 respectively. This three-year work plan is critical to ensuring that ABAC's policy recommendations continue to be pushed forward and that important agenda items are not abandoned as the host changes.
About ABAC
Created by APEC Economic Leaders as the private sector body representative, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) plays an extremely important role by spearheading the concerns of the business community in the Asia-Pacific. Comprising up to three senior business executives from each of APEC's 21 member economies, ABAC meets four times a year to discuss business sector priorities and concerns. ABAC is the only non-governmental organisation that is on the official agenda of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.
To find out more about ABAC, visit https://www.abaconline.org