Leaders from across the Asia-Pacific ended a two-day summit yesterday,
reaffirming their commitment to free trade and to strengthening their
economies, while issuing a warning about impending risks to the global economy.
With tensions over territorial
disputes simmering under the surface, the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(Apec) leaders still managed to meet specific targets, backing a cap on tariffs
for a list of environmental goods, and committing to improving the transparency
of free trade deals and avoiding limits on the trade of food.
And while the summit did not make
"earthshaking changes", Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said
that Apec, which represents almost half of world trade, took "useful steps
forward".
He praised the commitment to
promoting free trade, saying it came amid the euro zone crisis and huge fiscal
problems in the United States that have yet to be resolved. "We all know
all the countries' governments are under pressure to protect their markets when
economic conditions are difficult. And to have a forum like this where there is
some peer pressure that all of us should do the right thing collectively, I
think, is valuable."
Lee made the observation while
wrapping up an eight-day trip that took him first to China for six days, then
to Russia's far eastern port city of Vladivostok, accompanied by his wife Ho
Ching.
He was speaking to Singapore
media on the Far Eastern Federal University campus, where the two-day Apec
summit was held.
Apart from attending the Apec
meetings, Lee also held a series of bilateral meetings with leaders from the
US, the Philippines, Japan and Chile. He also posted on his Facebook page a
photograph of him meeting former Taiwanese vice-president Lien Chan, the
honorary chairman of Kuomintang, and his wife for tea on the sidelines of the
Apec summit.
Chilean President Sebastian
Pinera, he said, expressed interest in developing links with the western side
of the Pacific, in particular with Singapore.
During the summit, leaders also
discussed separately the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade pact
being negotiated that aims to cover the Pacific rim. Started by Chile, Brunei,
New Zealand and Singapore, it now has 11 members.
Giving an update, Lee said a deal
is "not imminent", although he hopes the issue will be resolved
within a reasonable time. "This is quite a complicated exercise; there
are... many political sensitivities, and also, this year is the American
election year, so I think they cannot settle politically delicate things until
a more favourable moment."
Yesterday, Apec leaders issued a
joint statement in which they sounded a warning over the global economy. It is
facing "downside risks", said the statement, with fragile financial
markets and public debt in developed economies "creating strong headwinds
to economic recovery globally".
The leaders resolved to work
together to support growth, foster financial stability and restore confidence
in the global economy.
"We are committed to
strengthening domestic demand where appropriate, facilitating job creation,
reducing high public deficits and debts, and implementing structural reforms to
boost growth in our economies," the seven-page statement said.
The economic grouping, which
brings together major players such as the US, China and Japan, also reaffirmed
its commitment to moving to market-determined exchange rate systems and
avoiding competitive devaluation of currencies or misalignments.
Apart from endorsing a list of 54
"green" goods on which tariffs will be capped at 5 per cent by 2015,
they also approved a model guide for achieving transparency in free trade
deals, and said they would take steps to improve food security and strengthen the
reliability of supply chains.
Russian President Vladimir Putin,
who hosted the event, described it as a great success. The next summit will be
in Bali next year, as Indonesia takes over the Apec chairmanship.
"The summit has once again
reaffirmed the Apec economies' commitment to the underlying principles of free
trade and integration," Mr Putin said at a briefing. "The
Asia-Pacific region is a locomotive, a driving force in the world
economy."
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