In a nine-page joint statement on their meeting on Nov. 17 and 18, the APEC ministers said open trade policies “are essential for sustained recovery and boosting growth for coming years.” File photo
LIMA – Ministers of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies have vowed to promote free trade and small businesses in the face of growing skepticism over economic integration and renewed concerns over protectionist policies.
In a nine-page joint statement on their meeting on Nov. 17 and 18, the APEC ministers said open trade policies “are essential for sustained recovery and boosting growth for coming years.”
“Faced with rising skepticism over trade and stagnated trade growth, we reiterate our commitment to build an open economy in the Asia-Pacific featuring innovative development, interconnected growth and shared interests,” the APEC ministers said.
“We also believe that the benefits of trade and open markets need to be communicated to the wider public more effectively, emphasizing how trade promotes innovation, employment and higher living standards, and creates opportunities for our citizens that can support inclusive growth,” they added.
The ministers also promised to use policy tools namely monetary, fiscal and structural to strengthen global demand and address supply constraints.
“We reaffirm our commitment to strengthen the multilateral trading system and recognize the important role of international trade to job creation, and sustained economic recovery, development and prosperity,” they said.
“We underline our confidence in the value and centrality of the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open, and inclusive multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO (World Trade Organization).”
Foreign Affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez represented the Philippines during the two-day meeting.
The APEC ministers’ meeting came amid concerns that the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union or “Brexit” could lead to protectionist policies that can stifle free trade.
Trump, who defied pollsters by defeating Hillary Clinton in the US presidential race, has vowed to dump the Trans Pacific Partnership, renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and impose tariffs on countries like China and Mexico.
The UK, meanwhile, voted to leave the EU last June in a move seen as a protest against bailouts on less wealthy member countries, liberal immigration policies, and restrictions that prevent the British government from signing its own trade deals.
The ministers of the 21-member economic bloc promised to support the effort of the WTO and other international groups in monitoring protectionism, which they said would weaken trade.
“We reaffirm the pledge made by our leaders against protectionism through a standstill commitment that we recommend be extended until the end of 2020 and to roll back protectionist and trade-distorting measures, which weaken trade and slow down the progress and recovery of the international economy,” the APEC ministers said.
