APEC Senior Officials Emphasize Continuing Moves Toward Free Trade
An APEC Senior Officials meeting endorsed a set of capacity building projects to help support economic progress in the Asia-Pacific region, on the eve of a Ministers of Trade meeting in Kazan, Russia, June 4. The goal of the meeting was a set of concrete initiatives on such things as continued expansion of liberalized trade and investment in the region.
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"A Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific remains a priority," said APEC 2012 SOM Chair Igor Morgulov, Russia's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. "Progress on the next generation areas of supply chain connectivity, small and medium-size enterprises; and integration of competition policy into Free Trade Agreements continues in the right direction."
“We must remain vigilant in our fight against protectionism, since protectionism inhibits growth," U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told the meeting. "APEC economies need to participate more fully in the WTO’s trade monitoring exercise. ... APEC economies can and should do their part to reinvigorate work in the standing WTO committees, which have taken a back seat in recent years. In fact they are on the frontline in our efforts to resist protectionist tendencies, and they can serve as the laboratories for considering how to address new issues in the WTO."
Kirk also said a key U.S. goal is to expand the Information Technology Agreement: "It’s still an area where high tariffs are keeping some countries out of the global production chain." He also sought progress on an international services agreement. His full statement is here.