Vladivostok, Russia: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
says APEC has made significant and useful steps forward even though there were
no earth-shaking changes this time round.
One such positive move, for
example, is to cut tariffs on a list of eco-friendly goods like solar batteries
and wind turbines to no more than 5 percent by 2015.
At the conclusion of this year's
APEC meeting on Sunday, leaders also reaffirmed the commitment to trade and
investment liberalisation in the Asia-Pacific region.
During the two-day summit in
Russia's port city of Vladivostok, APEC leaders discussed how to deal with the
challenges of an uncertain global economic climate.
APEC leaders said they are
committed to strengthening domestic demand and creating jobs. They also want to
reduce high public deficits and debts and implement reforms to boost economic
growth.
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong said: "Today at lunch we had Christine Lagarde, the IMF
managing director, come and we had quite a good discussion on how we saw the
global economy, what the risks are in Europe and the emerging markets, the
financial risks, the longer term structural issues.
"It's important, because
(though) APEC is in the Asia Pacific which is doing quite well...in fact we are
part of the global economy and the problems in Europe, or connected to that,
the fiscal problems in America, these will affect the whole world and will
affect us.
"So, we need to know what's
happening there and what we need to do to strengthen ourselves against
eventualities."
PM Lee also spoke on the progress
of the Trans Pacific Partnership or TPP, a free trade agreement which aims to
further liberalise the economies of the Asia-Pacific region.
He said that there has been some
progress but it is not settled yet. He hopes for a resolution within a
reasonable time but cautioned it will not be imminent.
That is because the TPP is a free
trade agreement that involves 11 countries and this can be a complicated
exercise with many political sensitivities.
Furthermore, a major player in
the TPP is the United States and the absence of US President Barack Obama at
this year's meeting meant significant progress was unlikely.
Bilateral trade with other
nations was also very much on PM Lee's mind when he met Chilean President
Sebastian Pinera.
PM Lee said: "He's very
interested in developing links with the western side of the Pacific, and
particularly with Singapore. And he thinks that there's potential. I think in
fact we have been developing ties with Chile. They are a member of the P4 which
is the precursor of the TPP. So these are contacts which you do on the
sidelines, which are valuable when you attend a meeting like this."
Another thorny issue APEC leaders
had to deal with was the tension arising from the territorial disputes
involving China, Japan and the Philippines.
The disputes were not on the
official agenda, but the subject was brought up in bilateral meetings on the
sidelines.
While the countries have
different perspectives, Mr Lee said these issues will have to be managed and
resolved in accordance with international laws.
Dominique Loh
- CNA/ir
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment