[1]  APEC and business

The APEC process is gathering momentum. The Economic Leaders have moved beyond developing a common vision and agreed on a timetable. Since their 1995 Osaka meeting, APEC economies have been developing individual and collective action plans that detail how members will fulfill their commitments to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment and engage in economic and technical cooperation.

The comprehensiveness and credibility of the Manila Action Plan for APEC will be the test of APEC's resolve. It must (a) reassure the business and the wider community that APEC is capable of achieving the goal of free and open trade and investment, and promoting development in the region; (b) deliver concrete and measurable improvements through steady reductions in barriers to commercial transactions; and (c) be transparent and practicable for businesses to incorporate into future corporate strategies.

Business has a crucial role to play in the achievement of APEC's vision. It is the principal constituency in APEC's quest for freer and more open trade and investment. It can be an important vehicle for sustainable development in partnership with government. It is also the main generator of cross-border flows of goods, services, capital and information. The freeing of these flows, and the broadening and deepening of transnational linkages in strategic sectors such as finance, transportation, telecommunications and infrastructure, will be the main gauges of APEC's success in the "real world" of business. It is through these successes that the wider community will benefit.

There remains considerable scope for enhancing the environment for business and its engagement in development. APEC economies can further deepen and accelerate trade and investment liberalization, as well as economic and technical cooperation. They can improve and harmonize rules that hamper the cross-border movement of the people, goods, services, capital and information that make our region prosper. They can address problems in infrastructure and finance to encourage expanded trade and investment. They can promote human resources development and the expansion of small enterprises to broaden the base of regional business.