[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 37 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
[Pages 1735-1738]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
The Auckland Challenge: APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration
September 13, 1999
We, the Economic Leaders of APEC, celebrate here in Auckland ten
years of unprecedented cooperation in our region, in pursuit of a vision
of stability, security and prosperity for our peoples. We shall continue
to exercise leadership to reach our goals and to meet the challenge we
have set ourselves.
We welcome the improved performance and prospects of our economies
since we last met, and commend the actions taken to reform those
economies affected by the crisis. The cooperative growth strategy we
adopted in Kuala Lumpur, and sound macroeconomic policies in key
economies, have supported the restoration of confidence and growth, and
have allowed us to share growing confidence about our prospects.
We are not complacent about the risks that might impede recovery and
sustainable growth and we will sustain the momentum for reform.
Continued multilateral and bilateral support is still important. We
welcome and endorse the efforts of Ministers through the year in pursuit
of APEC's goals. As Leaders, we accept responsibility for resisting
protectionism, opening markets further, and addressing structural and
regulatory weaknesses that contributed to the economic downturn from
1997. We will achieve this by strengthening our markets through
regulatory reform and enhanced competition and by improving the
international framework governing trade and investment flows. To this
end we commit to the launch of a new Round of negotiations in the World
Trade Organisation.
All people in our communities have a stake in the success of APEC.
We want to ensure they achieve their full potential for improved
economic and social well being. We particularly welcome the more active
participation of women and business in APEC's work this year.
Supporting Growth through Strong and Open Markets
Improved competitiveness through ongoing reform is the road to
recovery and sustainable growth. Through APEC, we seek to expand
opportunities for business and employment growth, build strong and open
markets and ensure that our communities
and economies can participate successfully in the international economy.
Open, transparent and well-governed markets, both domestic and
international, are the essential foundation of prosperity and enable
enterprises to innovate and create wealth.
We will strengthen our markets by:
<bullet> providing greater transparency and predictability in
corporate and public sector governance
<bullet> enhancing the role of competition to improve efficiency and
broaden participation by enterprises
<bullet> improving the quality of regulation and the capacity of
regulators to design and implement policies for sustainable
growth
<bullet> reducing compliance costs and facilitating business growth
<bullet> building a favorable regional and international environment
for free and fair competition
In reconfirming our commitment to achieve the Bogor Goals of free
and open trade and investment by 2010/2020, we endorse the attached APEC
Principles to Enhance Competition and Regulatory Reform. These
principles provide a core part of the framework for strengthening our
markets which will better integrate individual and collective actions by
APEC economies to achieve those goals.
We accept Ministers' proposals for an initial work programme to
strengthen markets. This gives priority to strengthening market
infrastructure and human capacity in our economies and enterprises,
especially in developing economies. It also calls for specific
implementation strategies in areas such as natural gas and e-commerce.
We call upon
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the private sector, including the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)
and the APEC Financiers' Group, to contribute to these efforts.
We welcome and endorse the work of our Finance Ministers, and
encourage their efforts to strengthen domestic financial markets and
secure the foundation for the return of capital to the region by:
<bullet> enhanced supervision of financial markets, including through
improved training of supervisors and regulators
<bullet> developing domestic bond markets based on the just published
Compendium of Sound Practices
<bullet> developing and applying agreed corporate governance
principles
The alignment of the APEC Finance Ministers' process with the APEC
Leaders' process offers new opportunities for cooperation. We instruct
our Ministers to pursue greater links among APEC fora and their work
programmes. We look forward to receiving a report from Finance Ministers
of further progress in dealing with financial market issues when we next
meet.
We reaffirm that individual actions by economies are the principal
means by which APEC's goal will be attained. We acknowledge that
progress towards the Bogor Goals has been uneven, and undertake to
continue concrete actions to fulfill our commitment. We also accept the
views of ABAC and other business representatives who have called for
action plans to be more specific, transparent and comprehensive, and
welcome the initiative by Ministers to review and strengthen processes
for individual and collective actions under the Oaska Action Agenda.
APEC's trade facilitation programmes are already delivering
substantial benefits--in customs harmonisation, standards and
conformance, and increased mobility of business people. We welcome the
agreed new initiatives, and instruct Ministers to give priority to this
work next year, in consultation with business, and to better communicate
the value of APEC's trade facilitation role.
Enhanced economic and technical cooperation is essential if we are
to lift our peoples into prosperity, and narrow the development gap
among Asia/Pacific economies. The financial crisis has underlined the
importance of cooperation in human and institutional capacity building,
science and technology exchanges and development of infrastructure. We
direct our Ministers to give special attention in the coming year to
improving effective and coordinated delivery of APEC's Ecotech and
capacity building programmes, in accordance with the Manila Declaration.
We welcome Ministers' report on the APEC Food System proposed by the
APEC Business Advisory Council, and endorse its recommendations on the
development of rural infrastructure, dissemination of technological
advances in food production and processing, and promotion of trade in
food products. A robust regional food system that efficiently links food
production, food processing and consumption, is a vital contribution to
meeting the objectives of APEC. We instruct Ministers to implement the
recommendations taking into account ABAC's submission this year, and
monitor annually progress towards achieving the APEC Food System.
We recognise the key role that electronic commerce will play in
linking our economies. APEC must continue its efforts to create a
favourable environment for e-commerce in cooperation with the private
sector.
In a little over 100 days, APEC economies will face the challenges
and risks of the century date change. Intense activities in economies
and throughout the region have lessened risks but more cooperative
planning must occur. We recognise that global interdependence means we
must continue our efforts to prepare, accelerate cross-border
contingency planning, and enhance transparency about readiness as a
matter of the highest priority. We adopt the APEC Y2K 100 Days
Cooperation Initiative to intensify cooperation for responding to
potential Y2K events. We agree to share information and expertise about
Y2K impacts on critical infrastructures during and after the date
change.
APEC in the Global Economy
APEC will continue to play a leadership role in strengthening the
global economy, especially the multilateral trading system.
Strong financial systems are fundamental to achieving robust, open
and growing economies. We welcome the report from our Finance Ministers
on developments in
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strengthening the international finance architecture and are encouraged
by the progress made. The establishment of the Financial Stability Forum
and the new informal mechanism to enhance dialogue among the
systematically important economies should advance cooperation on
strengthening the international financial system. We support ongoing
efforts to improve crisis prevention and crisis resolution, and urge
prompt action to improve transparency of highly leveraged institutions.
We also support the developing consensus on the need to ensure that
reforms of the international financial system, and domestic financial
markets, are mutually reinforcing. APEC's diverse membership provides a
special contribution to discussions on domestic and international
financial reforms. In respect of both the public and private sectors,
APEC advocates:
<bullet> greater transparency and openness including improved
reliability and timeliness of information
<bullet> clearer accountability for decisions and judgements
This year, APEC has a unique opportunity to give impetus to
deliberations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). We will give the
strongest possible support at Seattle to the launch of a new Round of
multilateral negotiations within the WTO, and endorse the positions
adopted by Ministers. We recognise the need to build public confidence
in this process and to improve coordination on trade related matters
among relevant international organisations. We agree on the importance
of ensuring full implementation of existing WTO agreements. We see
continued growth in international trade and investment as the best means
of achieving prosperity and security.
In particular, we agree that the new Round should:
<bullet> include comprehensive market access negotiations covering
industrial tariffs in addition to the already mandated
negotiations on services and agriculture
<bullet> lead to timely and effective improvements in market access
to the benefit of all participating economies, particularly
developing economies and, consistent with this objective,
provide scope to review and strengthen rules and disciplines
<bullet> have a balanced and sufficiently broad-based agenda and be
concluded within three years as a single package which does
not preclude the possibility of early results on a
provisional basis
We support, as one of the important objectives of the negotiations
on agriculture, the abolition of agricultural export subsidies and
unjustifiable export prohibitions and restrictions.
We call on all WTO members to join us at Seattle in a commitment not
to impose new or more restrictive trade measures for the duration of the
negotiations, as applied during the Uruguay Round. We pledge not to
impose any such measures before the Seattle WTO Ministerial meeting.
Support for ongoing WTO negotiations will remain a key area of
APEC's work throughout those negotiations. In particular we resolve to
work actively in the negotiations to ensure that APEC and WTO are
mutually reinforcing. To respond fully to the challenges and
opportunities of today's interdependent world for the benefit of all our
peoples and to avoid fragmentation of the international trading system,
we need to ensure convergence between regional and multilateral
liberalisation initiatives.
In order to achieve universality of membership, we also seek early
progress in the accession negotiations to the WTO, including for those
APEC economies that are not yet WTO members. We issue a strong call for
these accession negotiations to be concluded at the earliest
opportunity, if possible prior to commencement of the new WTO
negotiations.
Participation in Prosperity
As Leaders, we recognise our responsibilities to ensure full and
successful participation by all of our populations in the modern
economy. Technological change has irreversibly integrated global markets
for goods and services, and finance. The effective development and
application of knowledge will be a key driver of future economic
success, and we pledge to ensure that APEC economies are to the
forefront of building and sharing
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their expertise in this vital sector. Cooperation in such fields as e-
education, science and technology and life-long skills development
should be strengthened. Globalisation must become an opportunity for
all.
We commit to ensuring that APEC takes a leading role in enabling
developing economies to participate successfully in the global economy,
through enhancing human and institutional capacities and progressively
opening markets. We recognize that income and wealth disparities between
and within economies can pose a challenge for social stability.
Appropriate social safety nets play a role in facilitating economic and
social adjustment. We welcome efforts by APEC economies, and other
institutions, to address social safety net issues, and encourage further
efforts to maintain employment and environmentally sustainable growth.
In that regard, we welcome the outcomes of the Human Resources
Development and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meetings. APEC
economies will pursue enhanced dialogue and continue to seek policy
approaches that encourage inclusion and economic advancement, as well as
initiative and innovation.
We welcome the Framework for the Integration of Women in APEC, which
is a significant step to enhance the ability of women to contribute to
and benefit from prosperity of the region. We shall review
implementation of the Framework when we next meet.
In 1999, we have enhanced opportunities for business, especially
smaller enterprises, to make their views known in APEC. Those views are
of keen interest to us. Further dialogue with the private sector, at all
levels, is essential to maintain the dynamism and relevance of APEC. We
also look to the private sector for support for reform.
Once again, we welcome the recommendations from the APEC Business
Advisory Council, ABAC, and thank members of the Council for their
contribution in areas such as capacity building, finance, food, e-
commerce and air services. We instruct Ministers to take the ABAC
recommendations into account during their work in 2000. We support
implementation of the eight steps for more competitive air services, and
the identification of further steps to liberalise air services in
accordance with the Bogor Goals. Tourism and air services have a large
contribution to make to development and community building in the
region.
Conclusion
As Leaders, we recognise that our role in APEC, as in our own
economies, is to set the course which will allow for sustainable
development and which will deliver a strong social dividend to their
populations. We acknowledge that economic adjustments may be difficult,
and that there is social cost which must be reduced. But we are united
in our belief that the path to increased prosperity requires continual
reform and adjustment of our policies and outlook. An open regional
framework, within which competition and cooperation flourish, is the
best means of building a prosperous future together. We embark on APEC's
second decade confident that a deepening and enduring spirit of
openness, partnership and community is being built. The challenge we
collectively face is to maintain our momentum and deliver on our
commitment. We accept the challenge.
Note: This declaration was made available by the Office of the Press
Secretary but was not issued as a White House press release. An original
was not available for verification of the content of this declaration.