Santiago, Chile, 18 November 2004 – Although APEC has made clear advances in boosting regional economic cooperation, APEC should continue with its reform agenda to make it more efficient and more responsive to all stakeholders, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, who lead the discussions on the issue of reform during the 16th APEC Ministerial Meeting in Santiago, Chile.

Speaking before the foreign ministers and other heads of delegations of APEC, the Secretary pointed out that “the concept of reform we have thus constructed is that of a continuing process, a step-by-step approach, towards transforming APEC into a truly effective institution for fostering closer economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Secretary Romulo highlighted that the current challenge in terms of APEC reform is the issue of how APEC will relate to political and security developments that impact on the objectives of APEC. The Secretary said that “The fundamental question is: How should we, as member economies of APEC, approach the implementation of the Bogor goals (free and open trade in the APEC region by 2010 for developed nations and 2020 for developing nations) given the current and emerging global environment, while factoring in the fast-paced developments in the political and security spheres.”

To address this, the Secretary said that there must first be a realization that “it would be difficult if not impossible for APEC to ignore critical and dramatic political and security developments for these can affect even our best laid economic and trade plans.”  He said that what will be important is “to ensure that these political and security issues do not overwhelm” the work of APEC.  He added that APEC should achieve a “sensible and workable balance” between its economic objectives and how APEC deals with political issues that bear upon those objectives.

“The bottom line is to ensure that trade and security issues in APEC reinforce each other as we move forward towards the attainment of the Bogor goals,” the Secretary told the APEC ministers. While acknowledging the importance consensus in building commitments within APEC, Secretary Romulo also proposed that APEC should consider the possibility of resorting to voting and making some decisions legally-binding.

“Member economies could subscribe to a whole set of ‘hard binding’ mechanisms of negotiation, supervision, evaluation and punishment so as to improve the efficiency of executing decisions,” the Secretary said.

The Secretary also acknowledged the number of proposals on APEC reform put forth by Member Economies as a clear indication of the serious interest of this organization in the process of change.  The various papers submitted open up options and modalities for possible change in APEC in a wide range of issues.

The Secretary said that a close analysis of all the proposals reveals a convergence of ideas to which the Philippines could subscribe.  There appears a general agreement that APEC wants the following:

            1. A strengthened APEC both in agenda and in structure.

            2. A responsive APEC that addresses the needs of the changing times as well as the concerns of the member economies.

            3. A relevant APEC that is all inclusive and takes into account the participation of its growing number of stakeholders.

            4. A consistent APEC that is consciously guided by its set goals and priorities.

The Secretary emphasized that any reform efforts in APEC must give due regard to economic and technical cooperation (ECOTECH) and capacity building, saying that the challenge is how to redesign APEC in order to give this other agenda the substance and significance it deserves.” “For developing Member Economies, this is the most important pillar in the APEC process. Without ECOTECH and capacity building, the divide between APEC’s developed member economies and developing member economies cannot be bridged,” the Secretary said.  In concluding his discussion on the issue of APEC reform, the Secretary said “In the end, reforming APEC is indeed an evolving process.  Under all circumstance, the decisions we have to implement to strengthen both the structure and strategic agenda of APEC should make it more relevant and responsive to all stakeholders and more efficient in responding effectively to a growing number of global challenges.” END.