S’pore firms want APEC leaders to continue open borders

Saturday, October 05, 2013 18:06

Singapore companies want Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)leaders to continue to liberalise and open their borders and rejectprotectionism, Singapore Business Federation Chief Executive Ho Meng Kithas said.

Ho is one of the two Singaporean members at theAPEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) - a private sector organisationcomprising representatives of 21 APEC economies and submitting to theleaders its recommendations on how to improve the business andinvestment environment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Accordingto the Singapore Business Federation Chief Executive, Singaporean firmsalso want leaders committed to deep reforms in their economies, thusproviding a friendly environment for investors to park their money forthe long term.

He added, while APEC companies, includingSingaporean, remain confident about the future of the Asia-Pacificregion, they hope that the leaders and policymakers "are able to sustainthis and not be short-term on their policies."

ABAC willalso call APEC economies to continue to support the World TradeOrganization (WTO) despite its difficulty in rebooting the stalled DohaRound of trade negotiations.

Ho said that APEC leadersshould reap the "early harvest" of what has been negotiated so far atthe WTO. They could, for instance, work on wrapping up a tradefacilitation package that would simplify customs and other proceduresfor handling goods at the border. Such an initiative, if realised, wouldcreate about 18 million jobs for emerging economies, three million jobsfor developed ones, and increase global economic output by some 960billion USD, said Ho.

APEC's 21 member economies areAustralia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia,Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, thePhilippines, Russia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China),Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.-VNA

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