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Volume VII, Number 2 East-West Center August 2000

APIAN ADVANCES

The APEC International AssessmentNetwork (APIAN) project made significantprogress at the Brunei APEC Study CenterConsortium meeting. A dozen APIAN participants- the Executive Committee and other interestedASC members - gave careful consideration to the

option of moving APIAN onto a slower track bydelaying its first Policy Report until the 2001

Shanghai Leaders meeting. However, the strongconsensus was to maintain momentum and forgeahead with the target date for the APIAN PolicyReport being the November 2000 Brunei Leaders

meeting.

During the dinner, the group tackled the

problem of how best to circulate the IssueQuestionnaires to issue experts. It was decidedthat an APEC Study Center in each member

economy will serve as a "QuestionnaireFacilitator." Questionnaire Facilitators will seekout an expert to answer each questionnaire,although it is not anticipated that experts will belocated to answer all questionnaires in everymember economy. Earlier APIANparticipants had

agreed that issue experts can be members of APEC

Study Centers, but can also work at universities,

policy institutes, the private sector, as well as in

government agencies and international institutions,so long as the Issue Coordinator feels confidentthat the issue expert is willing and able to providean objective and informed assessment.

During the course of the consortium

meeting, many APEC Study Centers volunteeredto serve as Questionnaire Facilitators, coveringmost member economies. The Chinese TaipeiAPEC Study Center at the Taiwan Institute ofEconomics Research (TIER) offered to circulatepackets of the Issue Questionnaires to allQuestionnaire Facilitators, by hard copy, disketteand e-mail, and did so at the beginning of July.Once Issue Experts have completed the

questionnaires and forwarded them to the IssueCoordinators, the Issue Coordinators will preparetheir Issue Reports.

Dr. Chia Siow Yue, Director of theInstitute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in

Singapore offered to host a meeting of IssueCoordinators at the end of September/earlyOctober (exact date to be confirmed). At thiscritical meeting participants will review draft Issue

Reports and prepare the comprehensive APIAN

Policy Report (which will subsequently becirculated to otherAPIAN ASC for final approval).

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Richard Feinburg, DirectorAPEC Study CenterUniversity of California - San DiegoTel: (610) 534-7627Fax: (610) 534-3939E-mail: rfeinburg@ucsd.edu

East-West CenterVolume VII, Number 2, August 2000

Canada

APEC Workshop on Trade FacilitationNew Directions and the Development Challenge

September 13-14, 2000APEC Secretariat, Singapore

Workshop Objectives: To contribute to a renewalof APEC' s trade facilitation agenda - includingexploration of obstacles and opportunities fordeveloping member economies in APEC - byidentifying the most effective measures for actionin four areas: a) regulatory reform and standards;b) customs procedures; c) mobility of businesspersons; and professional accreditation; and d)electronic commerce

Introduction and Overview Tradefacilitation initiatives have been part of policydebate for decades. Industry groups, standardsorganizations, as well as intergovernmental bodies,among others, have outlined the importance ofaddressing non-tariff barriers to global trade. Thebusiness community (including those indeveloping economies as liberalization hasprogressed) increasingly focuses on tradefacilitation issues as major impediments toeconomic development and trade. There arenumerous accounts, from survey data as well asanecdotal evidence, of firms confronting costly andduplicative non-tariff barriers in customs regimes,regulatory requirements for market access, andother areas. The need to reduce such burdens iswell established. What is relatively new, however,is evidence that the benefits of facilitationmeasures may outweigh the benefits of furthertariff reduction.

Recent research indicates that facilitation,measures, including removal of regulatory andstandards barriers to trade, may yield greaterwelfare gains than incremental tariff reduction.Much of the gains from lower tariffs have beencaptured in the last 50 years of multilateral trade

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liberalization. To the extent that tariff reductionshave been concentrated in sectors less deeplyaffected by protectionist pressures, with the mostdifficult areas yet to be negotiated, one wouldexpect that further welfare gains fromliberalization would be more difficult to achieve.Greater resistance to liberalization in turn createspressure for trade policy fora such as the WorldTrade Organization (WTO) and Asia PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) to find other areasfor near-term success, including trade facilitation.

The 21 member economies in APEC haveidentified trade facilitation as one of its threepriorities (the other two being trade and investmentliberalization, and economic and technicalcooperation). At the 1999 Auckland Summit,APEC Leaders reiterated their emphasis on tradefacilitation and pledged to strengthen the APECfacilitation agenda. Specifically, they stressed theneed to: a) better publicize APEC's successes intrade facilitation, and b) develop consistentprinciples for APEC's trade facilitation activities.There was no mention, however, of developingnew initiatives under APEC's trade facilitationagenda, which remains largely unchanged since itwas formulated in Osaka in 1995.

In addition, although APEC has continuedto highlight the importance of integration ofdeveloping member economies into its broad tradeliberalization goals there has been little seriousanalytical work completed on the specific benefitsand transition costs associated with tradefacilitation measures for developing membereconomies of APEC. Most importantly, there isthe need to more precisely identify prioritydevelopment problems - and mechanisms toaddress those problems - in order for APEC's tradefacilitation priorities to succeed.

Project Objectives and Output Thepurpose of this workshop is to contribute to arenewal of APEC' s trade facilitation agenda. Theoutput of the workshop will include preparation offour subject area papers for discussion at thesessions, as well as an overview paper, which willdraw together lessons from the workshop.

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The workshop will identify effective reforms infour areas(1) Standards and Regulatory Reform(2) Customs Procedures(3) Mobility of Labor and Business

Professionals(4) Electronic Commerce as a Mechanism of

Trade Facilitation.

In each of these areas the project willcommission a study by an expert or team ofexperts.

A central focus of the project is to encouragea problem-specific approach to reform The studieswill be designed to help to develop plans toachieve the Bogor Declaration targets. Each studywill examine problems in several (two to three)developing member economies, and contrast thesewith experience and best practices in the specifictrade facilitation areas to be addressed. While theultimate APEC objective is policy harmonizationacross all economies, this approach recognizes thateconomies at different stages of developmentmight face different implementation problems. Theidea here is to identify priority problems ofindividual economies - particular problems thatparticular economies will have to solve along theway to harmonization.

Each author or team will undertake the followingtasks

1. Review the outcome of APEC's work programto date in the economy case studies that thestudy covers;

2. Identify key problems that remain in theseeconomies;

3. Suggest remedies appropriate to each situation- avoid a one-size-fits-all approach.

Information and data for these papers will beobtained from (1) reports and other materialgenerated through the APEC Committee and Sub-Committee process over the past five years,including surveys and empirical work on tradefacilitation completed by APEC Study Centers andother research organizations; (2) industry groupssuch as Chambers of Commerce in APEC membereconomies; and (3) data from the World Bank and

regional development banks, such as the AsianDevelopment Bank, among other sources.

To ensure a range of study, specific economieswith differing levels of development and tradefacilitation mechanisms will be selected andexamined by authors. For example, in the area ofstandards and regulatory reform, an examination ofthe state of Vietnam's and Thailand'sinfrastructures and their challenges in meetingAPEC goals will be contrasted with systems inCanada and the U.S. The co-organizers of theworkshop after consultation with experts in theregion, including those in developing membereconomies, will make final decisions on authorsfor these and other papers.

Overview and Synthesis Paper An overviewpaper on trade facilitation in APEC will beprepared for presentation in draft form at theworkshop by J. Michael Finger and John Wilsonfor the World Bank. The paper will be written in aformat and style accessible to the general trade anddevelopment policy community. The authors will:

1. Call attention to how situations differ fromeconomy to economy in the region (e.g., withstage of development);

2. Relate the findings of the subject papers torecent research results;

3. Explore the idea that movement towardharmonization in trade facilitation areasimposes different implementation costs ondifferent economies and likely higher costs oneconomies at lower levels of development; and

4. Identify action items where APEC can play aleadership role, not only in reforms by APECmembers, but also through possible WTOnegotiations, as well.

After the conclusion of the workshop, a finalpaper will be ready by November 2000. In additionto the overview paper and specific subject papers,a concise summary report of the project - withspecial emphasis on options for renewing APEC' strade facilitation agenda - will be prepared andmade available to Senior Officials, CTI membersand other APEC stakeholders, for consideration atthe APEC Leaders' Meeting in November 2000.

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Participants It is anticipated that theworkshop will include 50-60 participants -- trade

policy officials, trade facilitation professionals,industry experts, scholars, and representatives ofinternational development agencies. In addition,researchers and experts from developing membereconomies will be encouraged to attend in order to

support capacity building and expertise on tradefacilitation over the long-term in the region.

This workshop is scheduled to take placeat the APEC Secretariat in Singapore on

September 13-14, a few days before meetings ofthe APEC Committee on Trade and Investment(CTI) and of the APEC Senior Officials in BandarSeri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. Invitations tothe CTI chair and CTI members, along withmembers of the Standards and Conformance Sub-committee, E-Commerce Working Group,Customs, and others, have been extended. A

presentation by the organizers on the results of theworkshop will be provided to the full CTI and alsoto the Senior Officials Meetings in Bandar duringSUM III.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Yuen Pau Woo, DirectorAPEC Study Centre in CanadaE-mail: yuenpau@apfc.apfnet.org

Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei APEC Study CenterTaiwan Institute of Economic Research

In recent months, several researchers fromthe Chinese Taipei APEC Study Center (CTASC)attended various APEC-related meetings. As theChinese Taipei ABAC Secretariat is located at theCenter, three researchers, in their capacity as thestaff for ABAC members, attended the 2 ABACMeeting in Beijing, China. Work is now underwayin preparation for the 3rd ABAC Meeting in Lima,Peru to be held at the end of August. Dr. Lin andDr. Tseng of the Center participated in the 7°APEC SME Ministerial Meeting in June alongwith Chinese Taipei's official delegates. TheTaipei Center has been providing information and

policy advice on APEC issues to the SMEAdministration, the government agency in chargeof SME affairs in Chinese Taipei. Ms. Kristy Hsuof the Center represented Chinese Taipei at theAPEC Women's Leaders Network in Brunei fromJune 1T20.

Recently, the Chinese Taipei APEC StudyCenter has hired three new researchers. Mr. Yeh-

Chung Lu, Assistant Research Fellow, M.S. inDiplomacy from National Chengchi University;Mr. Ta-Ho Liu a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute ofPolitical Studies in Paris, France; and Dr. Wen-

Heng Chao, Ph.D. in Political Science from theUniversity of Maryland.

As part of the APIAN project, CTASC is inthe process of mailing the issue coordinators'

questionnaires to questionnaire facilitators. Pleasebe reminded to locate issue experts for thequestionnaires. The completed questionnaires areto be returned to the questionnaire facilitators andissue coordinators.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Chen Sheng HoAssociate Research FellowChinese Taipei APEC Study CenterTaiwan Institute of Economic ResearchWebsite: www.tier.org.tw/apecc/ctasc.htmTel: 886-2-25865000 Ext. 543Fax: 886-2-25997499E-mail: d9449@tier.org.tw

Korea

APEC Forumon Shared Prosperity andHarmony

The Forum was held from March 30 to

April 1, 2000, in Seoul, Korea. The objectives ofthe Forum were to exchange views on the currentstatus, strategies and future directions of thestructural reforms and liberalization pursued. TheForum also examined how member economiescould explore ways to coordinate the policies inovercoming the economic crisis and present policy

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directions for sustainable economic growth inAsia Pacific.

From a future-oriented perspective, theForum sought to explore desirable financial andforeign exchange policy directions that could bepursued by individual member economies at thedomestic level to prevent the recurrence of futurecrises. The Forum discussed ways to improve thefinancial architecture at the international level.Further, as income and wealth disparities betweenand within economies have posed challenges tosocial stability in the process of overcoming theeconomic crisis, the Forum sought to exchangeviews on a desirable welfare model and to providea new paradigm for APEC in this regard. As thegap in knowledge among economies is expected tobecome a key component of disparities in theknowledge-based, digital economy of the 21stcentury, cooperation measures to reduce such aknowledge gap was discussed at the Forum.

Ultimately, the Forum aims to provide along-term vision for prosperity and harmonythrough policy dialogues and allow APEC tomaintain its momentum and develop into a trulycooperative organization.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. KyungTae LeePresidentKorea Institute for InternationalEconomic Policy (KIEP)Tel: 822-3460-1056Fax: 822-3460-1162E-mail: jmjeon@kiep.go.kr

Thailand IThai APEC Study Center (TASC)

APEC UPDATE 2000: The Roles of Institutionsin Support of APEC, Their Problems and

ProspectsSeptember 1, 2000

Century Park Hotel, Bangkok

9:00-10:00Opening Ceremony and Keynote Addressby the Minister of Foreign AffairsH.E. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan

10:00-10.15 Break

10:15- 12:00Current State of APEC 2000- Dr. Kobsak Chutikul, Director-General

Department of Economics,Ministry of Foreign Affairs

- Mr. Vitoon Tulayanonda, DeputyDirector, Department of BusinessEconomics, Ministry of Commerce

- Dr. Somjai Pakkapaswiwat, ThammasatUniversity

Moderator: Dr. Medhi KrongkaewDirector, Thai APEC Study Center

12:00-13:00 Lunch

13:00- 14.30Panel discussion on the theme: "The Role ofInstitutions in Support ofAPEC:Problems andProspects"

APEC: Mr. Mohan MathewsSecretariat: Director (Program), APEC Secretariat

The Thai APEC Study Center will hold aone-day conference on the theme "APECUPDATE 2000: The Roles of Institutions in

Support of APEC, Their Problems and Prospects."The roles of various institutions are, one way oranother, important to APEC. Whether private orpublic, policy groups help set the APECframework and lay the foundation to move forwardthe work plans or activities of APEC. The roles ofinstitutions such as PECC, ABAC, APIAN, ASC,PBEC and the APEC Secretariat may differ, but allsupport the APEC process. Theconference will notonly promote the understanding of APEC but alsothe importance and cooperation ofthese supportinginstitutions.

TheProgram Agenda:

8:00- 9:00 Registration

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Volume VII, Number 2, August 2000MEETING MINDS

A NEWSLETTER FOR THE APEC STUDYCENTERS

ASC: Professor John McKay, Director,Australian APEC Study Center

FDC: Dr. John Conroy, Special Consultant,Foundation for Development Cooperation

PECC: Dr. Mignon Chan, Director-General,The PECC International Secretariat

Moderator: Dr. Narongchai AkraseraniRector, Schiller-Stamford International College

14:30 - 14:45 Break

14:45- 16.30Session continues with floor discussion

16:30- 17.00Summary and Concluding Remarksby Dr. Medhi Krongkaew

For further information, please contact:

B. NattaphornThai APEC Study Center (TASC)E-mail: tasc@tu.ac.th

USA

and Thailand economies to speak on "Electroniccommerce: Its influence in the Era of Trade andInvestment Liberalization" and on "Directions andCapabilities Needed for Future Youths in the Eraof Trade and Investment Liberalization." The 10-member youth delegation came from nine statesincluding California, Georgia, Hawaii, New York,Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and WashingtonState.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Tung BuiMatson Navigation Co. DistinguishedProfessorAPEC Study Center, Co-DirectorCollege of Business AdministrationUniversity of HawaiiHonolulu, HI 96822Phone: (808) 956-5565Fax: (808) 956-9889E-mail: tbui@cba.hawaii.eduhttp://ec.cba.hawaii.edu/tbui

MEETING MINDS is published by the

J~fEAST-WEST CENTER

APEC Study Center

For more information contact:University of Hawaii APEC Study Center

(UHASC)

Dr. Tung Bui, Matson Professor at the UHCollege of Business and Co-Director of the UHAPEC Study Center, headed the U.S. delegation tothe APEC Youth Networking Camp organized bythe Thailand Ministry of University Affairs. Dr.Bui accompanied nine American youths whojoined their counterparts from other APECeconomies for a week from July 12-20. Thecamp's main objective is to look at how to prepareyouth in APEC economies for the 21st century.

Charles E MorrisonE-mail: morrisoc @EastWestCenter.org

Telephone: 1-808-944-7384Fax: 1-808-944-7600

This issue was edited by:

Butch V. Dela Cruz(delacrub @ EastWestCenter.org)

andSheree Groves

(grovess @EastWestCenter.org)Dr. Bui joined other experts from

Australia, Canada, China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan

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U.S. ConsortiumofAPEC Study Centers