EVALUATION OF THE APEC FORUM

A. Liberalization of trade and investment

1. Keidanren supports moves by APEC countries to liberalize trade and investment in order to promote unfettered economic activity by the private sector.

2. Any moves to establish deadlines for liberalization must take into consideration the differences among APEC countries in cultural background and in stage of economic development.

3. Consideration of ways to address such issues as human rights, labor standards, and environmental protection should be separated from deliberation on liberalizing trade and investment.

4. In devising measures for liberalizing intraregional trade and investment, the APEC countries should be careful to ensure consistency with the principles of the GATT and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO).
   • Any liberalization should apply fully and unconditionally to countries outside the APEC region as well as to countries in the region.

   • Participating countries should resolve any disputes in a multilateral context, and should carefully monitor free-trade areas within the APEC region, including the North America Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Free-Trade Area (AFTA), and Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relationship Treaty Agreement (CER).

   • China should have ample opportunity to participate fully in the deliberation on how to create a new international economic order. Keidanren supports early resumption of China's GATT membership and its founding membership of the WTO.

5. The APEC should take up the subjects of deregulating their domestic markets and of coordinating their competitiveness policies.

B. Intraregional industrial and economic cooperation

1. The APEC should continue to deliberate and promote regional cooperation in such common agenda areas for the region as technology transfers, training and education, energy and energy conservation, ocean resources conservation, fishery, tourism, transportation, and telecommunications.

2. Governments should fully reflect private-sector views in planning and implementation of various cooperation projects in the region.