APEC leaders support "concrete measures" for regional free trade deal

[News_Editor]

APEC leaders support "concrete measures" for regional free trade deal

2010-11-14 13:26:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN (BNO NEWS) -- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) on Sunday supported to take concrete steps towards a free trade agreement in a region which has shown growing influence and resistance "against the crisis.

After his two-day annual meeting in Yokohama, leaders of 21 APEC members indicated that the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) "will bring about greater prosperity and well-being for all peoples in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond."

From 1994 to 2009, APEC economies' total trade in goods grew at 7.1 percent per year while intra-APEC trade tripled over the same period. Foreign direct investment into and out of the APEC region both grew at 13 percent per year from 1994 to 2008. The simple average applied tariff across the region fell from 10.8 percent in 1996 to 6.6 percent in 2008.

"We instruct our Ministers and Senior Officials to accelerate our work to strengthen and deepen regional economic integration in the coming year, and consistent with the vision articulated in this document, to design and implement specific initiatives to address barriers to trade and investment, and to ensure high-quality, sustainable growth in the future," the forum's conclusion said.

The APEC economies are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, South Korea, USA, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

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