APEC ECONOMIC LEADERS DECLARATION: CONNECTING THE APEC COMMUNITY
Vancouver, Canada
November 25, 1997
1. We, APEC's Economic Leaders, met today in Vancouver, Canada,
to reaffirm our commitment to work together to meet the challenge
of sustaining regional prosperity and stability. Certain of the
dynamism and resilience of the region, we underline our resolve
to achieve sustainable growth and equitable development and to unlock
the full potential of the people who live here. We agree that the
prospects for economic growth in the region are strong, and that
Asia-Pacific will continue to play a leading role in the global
economy. The goals we have set, including the achievement of free
and open trade and investment in the region by the dates set out
in the Bogor Declaration, are ambitious and unequivocal.
2. We take note of the rapid expansion of APEC's activities in
recent years, and the increasing leadership role it plays in global
economic affairs. Flowing from commitments embodied in the Osaka
Action Agenda and the Manila Action Plan for APEC, we welcome the
designation of 1997 as APEC's Year of Action. We have reflected
on the concrete results that APEC cooperation has generated throughout
the year, and set out a vision of how we may build upon these achievements
in the years ahead. As the year draws to a close, we note with satisfaction
that we have met and surpassed all the tasks we set for ourselves
at our last meeting in Subic.
3. APEC -- Addressing shared challenges: We have had a thorough
discussion of recent financial developments in the region. Our economies
and the international community as a whole have a strong interest
in seeing a quick and enduring restoration of financial stability
and healthy and sustainable growth. These events reflect new challenges
in the international financial system that require new responses.
The global dimensions of these problems suggest the need for a global
response, with regional initiatives to complement and support these
efforts. We are resolved to work together to address these shared
challenges.
There is no doubt that the fundamentals for long-term growth and
prospects for the region are exceptionally strong. We remain convinced
that open markets bring significant benefits and we will continue
to pursue trade and investment liberalization that fosters further
growth. Prudent and transparent policies, particularly sound macroeconomic
and structural policies, human resource development strategies,
and effective financial sector regulation are key to restoring financial
stability and realizing this growth potential.
But we need to go further. We believe it is critically important
that we move quickly to enhance the capacity of the international
system to prevent or, if necessary, to respond to financial crises
of this kind. On a global level, the role of the IMF remains central.
Therefore, we welcome and strongly endorse the framework agreed
to in Manila as a constructive step to enhance cooperation to promote
financial stability: enhanced regional surveillance; intensified
economic and technical cooperation to improve domestic financial
systems and regulatory capacities; adoption of new IMF mechanisms
on appropriate terms in support of strong adjustment programs; and
a cooperative financing arrangement to supplement, when necessary,
IMF resources. We urge rapid implementation of the Manila Framework.
We also look forward to the conclusions of the IMF study already
underway on the role of market participants in the recent crises.
We recognize that as the region¡¯s most comprehensive economic forum,
APEC is particularly well suited to play a pivotal role in fostering
the kind of dialogue and cooperation on a range of policies and
develop initiatives to support and supplement these efforts. We
ask our Finance Ministers, working closely with their Central Bank
colleagues, to accelerate their work launched in Cebu in April on
the collaborative initiatives to promote the development of our
financial and capital markets, and to support freer and stable capital
flows in the region. APEC can play a particularly valuable role
in exploring ways, in cooperation with the World Bank, the IMF,
and the Asian Development Bank, of intensifying its economic and
technical cooperation, giving priority to upgrading financial systems,
enhancing cooperation among market regulators and supervisors and
other measures to help improve the integrity and functioning of
financial markets. A good example of private-public partnership
in these areas is the recently-announced Toronto Centre for Executive
Development of Financial Sector Supervisors.
We look to our Finance Ministers to report on progress on all of
these initiatives early in the new year and to concrete outcomes
at their next meeting.
4. APEC must play an increasing role in addressing such challenges.
We are resolved to work together to achieve concrete results through
dialogue and problem-solving. Recognizing the diverse interests
and circumstances of its membership, APEC has given rise to entirely
new approaches to international economic cooperation. Based on three
mutually supportive pillars -- trade and investment liberalization,
business facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation --
the APEC approach addresses regional challenges and opportunities
in an integrated fashion so that all members develop the capacity
to participate fully in and benefit from this cooperation. By connecting
the community APEC has helped us to build relationships and share
knowledge to improve the well-being of our citizens. These partnerships
enhance our prosperity and progress, enrich our lives and foster
the spirit of the APEC community.
A Year of Action -- Key Results
5. We welcome the concrete results achieved this year in implementing
the trade and investment liberalization commitments we set out at
Subic Bay. We recognize efforts made by members to improve the commitments
in their Individual Action Plans. APEC's collective achievement
in enhancing the comparability and transparency of these plans is
important in ensuring that our undertakings are well understood
in the marketplace. The views of the private sector are critical
to ensuring that APEC's efforts remain focused and on target. In
this regard, we welcome the review of the Manila Action Plan for
APEC which was carried out by the APEC Business Advisory Council,
and instruct our ministers to take ABAC's views into consideration
in the preparation of future plans. As Individual Action Plans remain
the core mechanism for APEC's trade and investment liberalization
activity, we reaffirm our commitment to their annual improvement.
6. APEC's liberalization proceeds on a voluntary basis, propelled
by commitments taken at the highest level. In this regard, we welcome
the action taken to accelerate by two years the time table for the
identification of sectors for early voluntary liberalization, a
decision that underlines our determination to advance the pace of
liberalization in the region and globally. We endorse the agreement
of our Ministers that action should be taken with respect to early
voluntary liberalization in 15 sectors, with nine to be advanced
throughout 1998 with a view to implementation beginning in 1999.
We find this package to be mutually beneficial and to represent
a balance of interests. We instruct Ministers responsible for trade
to finalize detailed targets and timelines by their next meeting
in June 1998. To sustain this momentum, we further instruct that
the additional sectors nominated by members this year to be brought
forward for consideration of additional action next year. We underline
our commitment to comprehensive liberalization, as stated in the
Osaka Action Agenda.
7. Among multilateral and regional fora, APEC is a pioneer in the
area of trade and investment facilitation. Our business community
tells us that this is the area of APEC activity of most immediate
relevance to them. Lowering costs, eliminating red-tape and delay,
promoting regulatory reform, developing mutual recognition arrangements
on standards and conformance, and increasing predictability are
clear benefits, especially to operators of small and medium-sized
enterprises. The Blueprint for APEC Customs Modernization, which
puts forward a comprehensive program to harmonize and simplify customs
clearances by the year 2000, provides a model. We urge the acceleration
of trade and investment facilitation through APEC's Collective Action
Plans and direct Ministers to use APEC's economic and technical
cooperation activities to build capacity, adapt procedures and incorporate
new technologies.
8. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the GATT we reflected
on the rich legacy it has conferred through the encouragement of
open trade regimes. We reaffirm the primacy of the open, rules-based
multilateral trading system under the WTO and reiterate our commitment
to APEC's activity proceeding on the basis of open regionalism.
We invite trading partners outside APEC to follow suit.
Full and active participation in and support of the WTO by all
APEC economies is key to our ability to continue to strengthen the
global trading system. We encourage the acceleration of substantive
negotiations on protocol issues and market access with a view to
achieving universality of WTO membership. We reaffirm our undertaking
to implement fully all existing WTO commitments and the built-in
agenda of the WTO according to agreed timetables. We also challenge
the WTO to build on APEC's efforts towards further broad-based multilateral
liberalization. We note with pleasure the leadership that APEC has
demonstrated in advancing in the WTO the conclusion of Agreements
on Information Technology and Basic Telecommunications. We undertake
to work in a determined fashion to achieve a successful conclusion
to WTO negotiations on financial services by the agreed deadline
of December 12, 1997. As agreed by our finance and trade Ministers,
a successful conclusion would include an MFN agreement based on
significantly improved commitments. This result will enhance competition
within our financial systems, foster development of regional capital
markets, promote financial integration, improve the regional capacity
to intermediate savings and strengthen our economies' resilience
in the face of external shocks.
9. We are pleased with the progress that has been made in implementing
the 1996 Framework for Strengthening Economic Cooperation and Development
in APEC, and call on Ministers and officials to focus on addressing
the key challenges identified therein. We direct Ministers to give
all elements of the Framework equal weight and attention, and to
be mindful of its indivisibility as an integrated set of objectives
requiring coordination and communication across the APEC agenda.
We applaud the effort in 1997 to apply this Framework approach to
APEC's work on two key challenges in the region -- infrastructure
and sustainable development. We direct Ministers to focus further
efforts on capacity-building in 1998 through work on developing
human resources and harnessing technologies of the future to enable
all members of the APEC community to benefit more fully from trade
liberalization.
10. Meetings of Ministers responsible for finance and trade provided
early impetus for APEC's work in 1997. We commend their activities
as a direct contribution to our goal for sustainable growth and
equitable development. We are also gratified by the substantial
contributions that Ministers responsible for environment, transportation,
energy, small and medium-sized enterprises, and human resource development
have made in 1997 to APEC's work. We welcome the progress of APEC
fora in involving business, academics and other experts, women and
youth in 1997 activities, and encourage them to continue these efforts.
11. APEC members share a belief in the contribution of free markets
to achieving our growth and employment objectives. While they have
a clear role in managing the impacts of economic transition, governments
alone cannot solve the complex questions posed by our interconnected
world. We are pleased to note a leap in business involvement in
all levels of APEC activity this year. As Leaders, we have profited
from our dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council. We commend
their initiative in increasing their exchanges with Ministers and
Senior Officials. We will reflect on recommendations set out in
ABAC's 1997 Call to Action. We also welcome ABAC's intention to
establish a Partnership for Equitable Growth, and express appreciation
for recommendations on diverse and important issues such as standards,
business mobility and capital market development. We stress the
need for APEC to broaden its outreach to a wider segment of the
business community.
Noteworthy in 1997 has been the wealth of APEC activities and initiatives
in support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although
ours is a region of traders, many SMEs encounter obstacles to their
full participation. We stress the importance of strengthening our
SME sectors, to allow them to take advantage of linkages into regional
trade and investment opportunities by promoting a business environment
that stimulates creation of new enterprises. We commend the fact
that many specialized APEC fora have developed programs to address
the needs of SMEs. We take note of the priorities and approaches
set out in APEC's 1997 Framework for SMEs, and instruct Ministers
to ensure they are applied.
A Vision for the 21st Century
12. Connecting APEC's instruments -- Intense growth in the economies
of Asia-Pacific over the past decade has had far reaching impacts
on our societies. Growth and employment, as well as improved incomes
and quality of life, are welcome benefits. In all of our societies
these positive outcomes have been accompanied by structural and
environmental pressures. Globalization has emerged as a reality.
Rapid urbanization and advances in information technology are transforming
our cityscapes, as well as the way in which we interact. Our ability
to adapt to new developments will determine our success in achieving
sustainable and equitable development among and within societies
in the region. We applaud the efforts made this year to integrate
APEC's instruments -- liberalization, facilitation and economic
and technical cooperation -- in addressing emerging challenges.
13. Connecting with our constituents: We stress our common belief
that ongoing and ambitious trade and investment liberalization remains
indispensable to the health of our economies. To underpin our efforts,
support among the people of the region for continuing trade and
investment liberalization is essential. We welcome the decision
by Ministers to develop an APEC-wide work program to assess the
full impacts of trade liberalization, including its positive effects
on growth and employment, and to assist members in managing associated
adjustments.
14. Connecting our economies: Our discussions today have focussed
on regional infrastructure requirements in support of economic and
social development. We endorse the work that has been carried out
this year on infrastructure applications to make city life more
sustainable, in particular the Sustainable Cities Program of Action.
The rapid growth of urban centres poses daunting challenges such
as bottlenecks, supply constraints, as well as health and environmental
concerns. Governments must strive to ensure adequate access to infrastructure
for people in all walks of life, urban or rural. Capacity building
through economic and technical cooperation is essential to ensure
the ability of all economies to address these critical challenges.
Infrastructure is inextricably linked to the questions of financial
stability that we have addressed. In addressing regional infrastructure
decisions, governments and business must work together to ensure
that long-term financial sustainability is adequately considered.
Cooperation with business and international financial institutions
and development banks can be critical to achieving optimal project
planning. We endorse the attached Vancouver Framework for Enhanced
Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Development. We also
are pleased by the agreement to enhance cooperation among Export
Credit Agencies and Export Financing Institutions in support of
regional infrastructure development, as well as agreement to undertake
a feasibility study on a Network of Infrastructure Facilitation
Centres to encourage information sharing and transparency. Recognizing
the importance of telecommunications and information technology
for building an Asia-Pacific information society, we agree that
the Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure is an essential basis
for ensuring the competitiveness of the region in the 21st Century.
15. Connecting electronically: We agree that electronic commerce
is one of the most important technological breakthroughs of this
decade. We direct Ministers to undertake a work program on electronic
commerce in the region, taking into account relevant activities
of other international fora, and to report to us in Kuala Lumpur.
This initiative should recognize the leading role of the business
sector and promote a predictable and consistent legal and regulatory
environment that enables all APEC economies to reap the benefits
of electronic commerce.
16. Connecting science and technology: In view of the growing role
of science and technology in promoting economic growth and its close
linkages to trade and investment flows, we direct Ministers to formulate
an APEC Agenda for Science and Technology Industry Cooperation into
the 21st Century, and present it to us in Kuala Lumpur. We also
welcome other regional networks to strengthen science and technology
linkages, including the Association of Pacific Rim Universities
(APRU).
17. Connecting the issues: Achieving sustainable development remains
at the heart of APEC's mandate. Equity, poverty alleviation and
quality of life are central considerations, and must be addressed
as an integral part of sustainable development. We have made a commitment
to advance sustainable development across the entire scope of our
workplan. We welcome the results of the multi-sectoral symposium
on relationships among food and energy and the environment under
the pressures of rapid economic and population growth, as well as
the interim report we have received. We look forward to presentation
of a more detailed and action-oriented report in 1998.
18. Connecting efforts on climate change: We recognize the importance
of accelerating action on a global level to deal with emissions
of greenhouse gases. We affirm that this issue is of vital significance,
and that it requires cooperative efforts by the international community,
in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
We emphasize our strong support for a successful outcome to the
Third Conference of the Parties in furthering the objectives of
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-FCCC). We note
that all APEC members can make important contributions to this effort.
We also agree that the enhancement of energy efficiency plays an
important role in addressing climate change. We affirm the importance
of flexible and cost-effective cooperative approaches to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, including by promoting the development
and diffusion of beneficial technologies. We recognize the legitimate
needs of developing economies to promote their sustainable development
in furthering the objectives of the UN-FCCC and, in this respect,
the importance of enhancing the availability of beneficial technologies.
19. Connecting emergency response: We recognize that unexpected
disasters which affect one of us can affect all of us, and that
we can benefit from sharing expertise and collaborating on emergency
preparedness and response. We welcome the initiative of Ministers
in this regard.
20. Connecting the people of Asia-Pacific: Continued prosperity
in the region will depend heavily on our willingness and our ability
to vest the next generation of leaders of the region with the skills
and knowledge they require. We applaud the initiative to involve
youth throughout APEC's 1997 activities. Education and skill-building
remain key objectives for long-term employment of our youth, and
we call on Ministers to work with young people, academics, workers
and business to share approaches on successful transitions from
the learning environment to the work force. We welcome the Electronic
Source Book on work, study and exchange opportunities in the region,
the establishment and development of the APEC Education Foundation,
and the APEC Youth Skills Camp and the APEC Youth Science and Technology
Festival, both to be held in 1998, in Seoul. We appreciate the offer
by Singapore to establish an APEC Education Hub, which includes
the granting of scholarships to APEC students. We welcome the holding
of a Ministerial Conference on Education in 1999 in Singapore to
explore the possibility to expand this initiative, offering quality
programmes to students in the region.
We believe APEC should take specific steps to reinforce the important
role of women in economic development. We welcome the offer of the
Philippines to host a Ministerial Meeting on Women in 1998 in Manila,
to take stock of progress to date in involving women in APEC's agenda
and to determine next steps to integrate women into the mainstream
of APEC's activities.
21. Spanning twelve time zones from St. John's to Sumatra, APEC
bridges both distance and diversity. Through a combination of concrete
results and renewed vision, the spirit of community which unites
us has been strengthened and broadened this year. The people of
the region remain its greatest asset. As Leaders, we are accountable
for safeguarding and improving their economic and social well-being.
Our people are the foundation on which the APEC community is built.
We commit ourselves to ensuring that APEC remains responsive to
their concerns.
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