APEC Sets Busan Roadmap to Achieve Bogor Goals Mid-Way Point in APEC Process Marks Achievements
A new report has found that barriers to trade and investment have fallen significantly in the APEC region since the creation of the APEC process sixteen years ago. The report that was endorsed by the APEC Ministers today also sets a roadmap to ensure that APEC's ultimate free trade and investment goals are reached by their target years.
The 'Mid-term Stocktake of Progress Towards the Bogor Goals' report was prepared from input provided by all of APEC's 21 Member Economies that was then analyzed by independent trade and economic experts. The report lists achievements, notes challenges that lay ahead and then outlines the 'Busan Roadmap to the Bogor Goals.'
APEC Leaders set the Bogor Goals in 1994 with the aim of achieving free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.
Korea's Minister for Trade and Co-Chair of the APEC Ministerial Meeting, Mr. Kim Hyun Chong, said as 2005 marks the midpoint between the creation of APEC in 1989 and its ultimate goals in 2020, Member Economies have seen the need to take stock and plan for the future.
"The region has achieved a great deal during the past one and a half decades of APEC and now we have the roadmap to see our regional goals achieved," Mr Kim said after the report was endorsed by APEC Ministers.
"The most notable achievement is that average applied tariffs in APEC Member Economies declined from 16.9 per cent in 1989 to 5.5 per cent in 2004. In fact almost half of all APEC Member Economies' tariff lines are at less than 5 per cent while tariffs on many goods are now set at zero.
"The same period also saw intra-APEC goods and services trade more than triple and account for an ever-growing share of APEC economies' GDP, increasing from 13.8 per cent in 1989 to 18.5 per cent of GDP in 2003. Employment also grew by 18 per cent in the APEC region between 1990 and 2002.
"There has been substantial growth in services trade, barriers to investment have been reduced and APEC has led the world in recognizing the value of free trade agreements to achieving regional trade goals."
Mr. Kim said the report outlines policy measures to be implemented in APEC Member Economies aimed at achieving APEC's Bogor Goals in a changing business environment.
"APEC Members have agreed to a number of initiatives to deepen commitment to the multilateral trading system and the WTO while also developing high quality free trade agreements," Mr Kim said.
"Member Economies are committed to the launch of the Busan Business Agenda that has been developed to respond to concerns of the private sector such as business facilitation, transparency and behind-the-border regulations.
"The roadmap also highlights the importance of economic and technical cooperation in order to develop and utilize skills and other resources from APEC economies. The report notes that these capacity building activities should be tailored to accommodate the specific needs of each Member Economy."
The 'Mid-term Stocktake of Progress Towards the Bogor Goals' report was commissioned by APEC Leaders in 2001 and assesses how far APEC has moved towards the Bogor Goals and what further actions are needed to reach the Goals.
Additional information is available on the attached Fact Sheet. The full text of the Report is available for download from the APEC website (www.apec.org).