[3]  ABAC's commitment to core APEC principles

We reiterate our commitment to the Guiding Principles for APEC's move towards the goal of free and open trade and investment proposed in the Pacific Business Forum in its 1995 Report and underline our firm support to the following core principles of APEC:
     - A strong and open multilateral trading system. We endorse APEC's role as a catalyst for further global trade liberalization, and strongly oppose any dilution of commitments made in the context of multilateral trade liberalization.
   - Open regionalism. We support the objective, as stated in the Bogor Declaration, that APEC's liberalization should reduce barriers not only among APEC economies, but also between APEC economies and non-APEC economies.
   - Free and open trade and investment. We fully support the Osaka Action Agenda and underscore the need for practical measures to ensure that deadlines for liberalization are met.
   - Trade and investment facilitation. We strongly endorse APEC's commitment to a program of trade and investment facilitation and to a set of non-binding investment principles that will facilitate the flow of capital within the region.
   - Economic and technical cooperation. We recognize our responsibility to ensure that the programs to intensify economic and technical cooperation articulated in the Bogor Declaration are advanced as APEC progresses towards regional trade and investment liberalization.
   - Flexible consensus. We fully endorse APEC's flexible consensus approach to its activities. We recognize that this allows those economies that are ready to advance to do so, while allowing other economies which may not yet be ready to join later. We expect that the mutual respect implied in this approach will not be used to justify inaction.
   - Comprehensive coverage. We fully endorse APEC's commitment to the comprehensive nature of its trade and investment liberalization measures through the inclusion of all sectors of manufactured goods, agriculture, services, intellectual property rights, investment, among others.
   We commend to the Economic Leaders the importance of expressing their firm commitment to these core principles, and of:
   - Adhering fully and unequivocally to the Most Favored Nation principle that underpins the multilateral trading system.
   - Ensuring the participation of all APEC economies in the WTO.
   - Urging the WTO to recognize the need for accelerating the process of multilateral liberalization in a way that matches the concerted unilateral liberalization efforts being undertaken by APEC member economies.
   - Committing to a clear timetable for the removal of any extraordinary trade or tariff provisions.
   - Adopting comprehensive and credible action plans that include specific implementation timetables and milestones, and contain, at a minimum, all existing WTO and unilateral liberalization commitments and specific new initiatives.
   - Expediting the implementation of previously agreed upon trade and investment facilitation measures, and reporting in the Subic APEC Economic Leaders Meeting on progress made to date in this area.
   - Adhering fully to the principle of open regionalism and pursuing free trade and investment in a way that will strengthen global trade and investment liberalization.