15 November 2009
APEC business and political leaders cautiously optimistic about future; list
hopes for region's growth and transformation through collaboration, sustainable
development, and social responsibility
In a summary of the APEC CEO 2009 discussion released today by the
Singapore Institute of International Affairs, it was observed that mood of APEC business and political leaders was cautiously upbeat about the future, although most acknowledged that challenges remain ahead for the region.
The two-day meeting took place a little over one year after the global crisis began. Governments had taken unprecedented fiscal and monetary measures and successfully prevented a worldwide meltdown of the financial system. New institutions for cooperation and coordination have emerged, especially the G20. In 2009, there were signs of recovery, especially in the larger economies of Asia, with China gaining much attention. Many debated however whether the recovery was substantial and sustainable.
To read the full media release, please
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14 November 2009
ABAC welcomes U.S. interest in Trans Pacific Partnership
ABAC Chair Teng Theng Dar has welcomed the statement of U.S. Trade Representative
Ron Kirk in Singapore that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) remains “the most practical way for the U.S. to be engaged" in the region.
TPP is a free trade agreement currently including Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore which the United States has been considering joining along with Australia and Peru. Viet Nam is also an observer to this process.
To read the full media release, please
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14 November 2009
Strong call for balanced approach to rebuild the global economy
Business leaders here advocated an enlightened and sustainable approach to lead the world out of the crisis, through striking a balance between free enterprise and regulation, as the APEC CEO Summit came to a close today.
Leaders of the 14 APEC economies speaking at the event pledged support for free and fair trade, anti-protectionism and continued co-operation among the APEC economies. They gave firm commitments to keep trade flowing and to continue with liberalisation efforts.
Speeches from these Leaders provided insights into the priorities of each economy to achieve sustainable and long-term growth, working hand-in-hand with global business. This year's CEO Summit saw noteworthy appearances from 14 Leaders of APEC's largest economies including Australia, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The administration of United States President Barack Obama also announced its commitment to engage and be involved through the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ms Chong Siak Ching, Chair of the CEO Summit Organising Committee, said, "It is clear that collaborative efforts to find new solutions must not cease. This crisis has shown that global business and government must work together to find a balance to build sustainable growth models responsibly. With the support of strong government, making our businesses socially and ecologically responsible is the only way to build for the future."
Strong networking opportunities
In one of the most interactive CEO Summits ever, more than half of the global business leaders in attendance supported the view that while the worst of the global crisis may be over, there remains a risk of a downturn in the near future. These views were revealed through several polls conducted during the conference. The results of the polls also reiterated China’s contribution and impact to the recovery of the world’s economy with the predominant view that it should open up more to international competition.
Commenting on the additional efforts to create new channels for interaction, Ms Chong added, "We are privileged to host an audience of senior C-suite participants which provided high quality networking opportunities this year. Everything we arranged was designed to create an environment where people can meet and perhaps forge new partnerships. I think we have achieved this."
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11 November 2009
Asia-Pacific Business Leaders call for more open trade and investment to sustain the economic recovery
Business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region comprising the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) concluded their final meeting for 2009 today and are preparing for their dialogue with
APEC Leaders on Saturday.
"Our dialogue enables us to put directly to APEC Economic Leaders our recommendations for sustaining the economic recovery in the region. The dialogue will draw on the fruitful discussions we have been having over the last few days in Singapore and builds on the work we have done throughout the year to influence the APEC process" said ABAC Chair Teng Theng Dar.
To read the full media release, please
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11 November 2009
ABAC Proposes "APEC Food System" Roadmap to Develop Food Security and Deepen Regional Integration
The APEC Business Advisory Council today rele ased a "Strategic Framework for Food Security in APEC" designed to achieve food security in the region through effective implementation of the APEC Food System previously endorsed by APEC Leaders. The document is available at the ABAC website:
www.abaconline.org.
For a copy of Document Framework for APEC Food Security, please
click here.
To read the full media release, please
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4 November 2009
The APEC business leaders will meet for the final time this year at the 4th APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) 2009 Meeting, held from 8 - 11 November, at Suntec Singapore.
The closed door meeting will see Members of ABAC consolidate the pertinent business issues and recommendations of 2009 to be communicated directly to the 21 APEC Leaders at the exclusive
ABAC Dialogue with Leaders on 14 November.
Similar to past years, ABAC has submitted its annual
ABAC Report to Leaders in mid October 2009. The Report details the key issues, concerns and recommendations faced by the APEC business community, which were raised and concurred by ABAC throughout the year. The Report is also accompanied by the Letter to the APEC Leaders, highlighting the 4 top critical areas of focus for action by APEC Leaders, which are namely:
a. Accelerating Regional Economic Integration and the achievement of the
Bogor Goals by through the instrument of FTAAP
b. Resisting protectionism unequivocally
c. Increasing the flow of investments
d. Supporting the conclusion of upcoming climate change negotiations
To ensure APEC Leaders are directly kept in touch with the issues surrounding APEC businesses, ABAC Members will meet at its annually-held "ABAC Dialogue with Leaders" on 14 November 2009. The opportune time of face-to-face interaction will enable the business leaders to convey their business concerns and seek insights from the APEC Leaders on their perspectives and policies directly.
For a copy of the 4th ABAC Meeting 2009 Agenda, please
click here.
For a copy of the Media Invite to the ABAC Press Conference, please
click here.
For a copy of the ABAC Report to Leaders 2009, please
click here.
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26 October 2009
Four Asia-Pacific Business Chambers in Singapore Urge Governments to Place TPP Negotiations at the Top of Their Trade Policy Agendas
As Singapore prepares to host the APEC Summit, four business chambers released a joint statement expressing their support for negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP). The statement is a product of a months-long collaboration between the Singapore chapters of the American Chamber of Commerce, Australian Chamber of Commerce, New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, and the Singapore Business Federation. The four chambers collectively represent over 1,200 foreign companies operating in Singapore and more than 15,000 local companies.
To read the full media release, please
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14 October 2009, Geneva, Switzerland
APEC Business Advisory Council supports a conclusion of the Doha Round but warns of risks to WTO's relevance
Issued by The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)
The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has warned that business interest in the multilateral process is waning and that the WTO may be perceived as less relevant, if a conclusion to the Doha Round is further delayed.
Earlier this week, ABAC members met with WTO Ambassadors and Director-General Pascal Lamy in Geneva, to express their support for a rapid conclusion of Doha and to convey their strong belief in the primacy of the multilateral trading system.
While business generally supports the multilateral process and the WTO, explains Tony Nowell, ABAC Liberalization Working Group Chairman, scepticism has been steadily rising because of the widening gap between rhetoric and action.
Conversely, he says, support has been growing for the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). APEC Leaders have instructed officials to develop specific recommendations for moving forward on an FTAAP, an idea espoused by ABAC since 2006.
"While an FTAAP and the WTO are not incompatible - both will go on regardless of the outcome of Doha -it does take away focus on the Doha Round and forces business to adapt to new challenges that the WTO has yet to consider. There is real danger that the WTO's relevance may be questioned if it is not in a position to have any influence on these issues - particularly now that the supply chain business model has become the norm."
According to Teng Theng Dar, Chairman of ABAC 2009, the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Singapore in November may be a golden opportunity to declare a commitment to complete the Round on time, given the presence of Leaders of economies that account for almost half the world's trade and including the USA, China and Japan.
"With the global economic recovery still fragile and business and consumer confidence still unstable, any signal, whether positive or negative, is going to be magnified in its impact. It is therefore critical that the news coming out of Geneva be positive."
The message that ABAC heard in Geneva is generally positive, he explains, but not without caution:
"We are told that completion of the Round by 2010 is indeed possible but that several things will have to happen within a relatively short period of time. In terms of the process itself, all technical issues should be settled by late this year. On the substantive issues of the negotiations, it seems that movement from the major players - particularly the USA - is key to progress."
Incoming ABAC Chair Gempachiro Aihara, said that the while the new Japanese government has yet to unveil its economic and trade policies, past experience suggests that these policies will favour positive engagement with the global economy. He expressed optimism that, as host of APEC in 2010, Japan will take a leading role in achieving progress in both APEC and the WTO.
ABAC was created by APEC Leaders to provide a business perspective on regional economic integration. Members are appointed by the Leaders of each APEC member economy.
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Martin Yuoon, ABAC Executive Director 2009 at (+65) 6827 6886 or at
market.amea@sbf.org.sg
Mr. Antonio Basilio, ABAC Secretariat (+63-2) 845 4564 or at
abacsec@pfgc.ph
Ms. Tran Bao Ngoc, APEC Secretariat (+65) 6891 9616 or at
tbn@apec.org
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14 September 2009
SBF steers Singapore businesses towards China market through participation in the APEC SME Summit in Hangzhou
Various Singapore companies from sectors including accounting and finance, textiles and apparels, relocation services, events & seminars and IT and design services recently participated in the business mission to the APEC SME Summit in Hangzhou, China from 10 - 13 Sep 2009 organized by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), and the Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (ASME).
To read the full media release, please
click here.
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27 August 2009
Business Leaders push for Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific
Key business leaders of the Asia Pacific region have agreed that it is now time for APEC to take more decisive actions towards establishing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in view of the financial crisis and the stalled Doha Round negotiations. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) met in Da Nang to finalize their recommendations to APEC Leaders prior to their dialogue in the November APEC Economic Leaders Meeting.
ABAC members expressed caution about signs of the economic recovery and urged Leaders to take steps to ensure that this is sustained. They believe that this can be done if economies resist protectionism, promote global demand rather than just domestic and that they take the opportunity to undertake economic reforms. And that setting a firm timeframe for bringing a FTAAP into reality would send a very strong signal about APEC's commitment to accelerating the integration of their economies.
To read the full media release, please
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27 August 2009
ABAC urges dialogue on regulatory capital changes, financial reforms
Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam on August 24-27, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) urged
the G-20 Finance Ministers to delay changes in regulatory capital requirements until global economic recovery is assured. This is important to avoid restricting lending at a time when it is most needed to fuel economic activity.
In a letter urging APEC Finance Ministers to communicate its views to the G-20, ABAC recommended that such changes be undertaken in dialogue with the private sector. In addition, they should form part of a comprehensive financial reform package that addresses risk management and corporate governance practices, among others.
To read the full media release, please
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19 August 2009
Top Business and World Leaders to Converge in Singapore for APEC CEO Summit in November 2009
More than 800 of the world’s top business leaders will converge here in November for the only international forum that provides direct contact with leaders of the most powerful nations in the Pacific Rim, most notably US President Barack Obama on his inaugural visit
to Singapore.
The APEC CEO Summit will be held in Singapore for the first time from 12-14 November 2009,
alongside the APEC Leaders Meeting. This premier business event for the Asia-Pacific region will be opened by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. With the theme "Rebuilding the Global Economy: Crisis and Opportunity", it will bring together Heads of State from the 21 APEC economies, key decision makers from the world’s biggest corporations and internationally renowned thought leaders to discuss the most pressing and wide ranging socio-economic and business issues facing the Asia Pacific region today.
To read the full media release, please
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22 July 2009
APEC Trade Ministers Meet with Business Leaders to Address Businesses' Priorities and Concerns
In a move underscoring the critical link between government and business that is at the core of APEC's policy process, APEC Trade Ministers held a dialogue with regional business leaders over lunch on Wednesday, July 22nd while in Singapore for the annual APEC meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT). The luncheon was hosted jointly by the Singapore Business Federation and the US-APEC Business Coalition.
"Business strongly believes that APEC can play a vital role in promoting a coordinated response to the current global economic situation," observed Alex Feldman, President of the US-ASEAN Business Council. "Events such as this allow business leaders from all APEC economies to continue to provide input on how APEC's trade policy work can contribute to promoting sustainable growth within the region."
To read the full media release, please
click here.
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9 July 2009
Business communities in Singapore and across the Asia-Pacific call on APEC governments to keep regulations to a minimum
Removing unnecessary regulations that severely impact on business operations is one of the key steps to improve the business environment within the Asia-Pacific region, said the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the joint organizers of today’s dialogue session on "Removing Barriers for Business Growth in APEC".
The dialogue session was held in conjunction with the presentation of key indicative findings of the
ABAC Ease of Doing Business Survey, launched by ABAC in March this year. The survey aimed to draw inputs from APEC's 21 member business community, including Singapore, on the priority areas of regulatory reform that should be implemented by governments.
To read the full media release, please
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19 June 2009
Survey on Applying Trade Related Environmental Standards (TREMs) in APEC
The APEC Committee for Trade and Investment (CTI) is conducting a survey on the current status of applying trade related environmental standards (TREMs) in APEC economies.
The Survey will explore how APEC member economies and their enterprises are dealing with TREMs, problems/difficulties encountered by them in designing and implementing environmentally friendly policies from administration's perspective and in meeting TREMs set out by importing partners from companies’ perspective. It will also seek recipients' inputs on how APEC can further support members in trade and environment field.
The CTI would highly encourage private sector feedback to enable regional governments to understand the policy of TREMs in the region. The Survey’s findings will be used as inputs for discussions at the APEC Seminar on Trade and Environmental Protection, which will be held in Viet Nam in December 2009, tentatively.
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15 May 2009
ABAC steps up efforts to uphold anti-protectionism commitments
ABAC concluded its 2nd ABAC Meeting in Brunei Darussalam, reiterating its strong stance for Leaders to reject protectionism and stay to their commitments of not introducing any new barriers to trade, which may in form; appear to be WTO-consistent.
The business leaders also issued a Letter to the APEC Leaders, containing short-term recommendations aimed at addressing the immediate business concerns elevated by the crisis; as well as a Letter to the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade, fuelling ABAC’s recommendation for regional economic integration, strengthening capacity building, sustainable development and enhancing connectivity in the region.
To read the full media release, please
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8 May 2009
ABAC applauds G20's stand on anti-protectionism, and warns need for business pandemic preparedness
The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), ahead of its Second Meeting of the year in Brunei Darussalam, applauds the G20 Heads of Government for their stand against protectionism made at their meeting in London last month. In light of the current Influenza-A H1N1 virus outbreak, ABAC also called for adequate emergency preparedness among businesses and implement counter measures when the need arises.
To read the full media release, please
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9 April 2009
SMEs voice their concerns and feedback for APEC leaders' consideration
Helping SMEs build capacity and resilience to tide through the current economic downturn is a key priority of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation, the joint organizers of today's "APEC for SMEs" Dialogue Session.
To read the full media release, please
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1 April 2009
APEC Business Leaders Urges G20 Leaders To Stamp Out Protectionist Inclinations Ahead Of April 2 Meeting
Ahead of the G20 Summit which will take place in London tomorrow, business leaders from the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) issued a letter to the 9 Heads-of-Government from the 21 APEC economies who are involved in the G20 meeting, re-iterating the strong call for clear and coordinated action by both APEC and non-APEC G20 members to fight against protectionist inclinations.
In its message to the G20 Leaders, ABAC highlighted the importance and urgency for the governments to work towards maintaining free and open markets to encourage trade & investment flow for the restoration of market confidence and thus help in accelerating economic recovery.
To read the full media release, please
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2 March 2009
Businesses can benefit by giving structured feedback through ABAC to shape APEC's agenda for a more
pro-business global environment
Moving away from protectionism, maintaining free markets and restoring market confidence are some of the measures that the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) believes are the effective antidotes to the current onslaught of the economic crisis. To help members better understand the role they can play in encouraging a more pro-business global environment, ABAC Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) today organized the APEC 2009 Singapore - "Partnering for Success" Seminar. Participants were urged to stay engaged and to collectively channel their business concerns through ABAC to shape and influence APEC's policy decisions.
To read the full media release, please
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1 March 2009
ABAC Singapore Conducts ABAC 'Ease Of Doing Business' Survey To Find Out The Top Regulatory Barriers To APEC Businesses
As Singapore undertakes the role of APEC Host for 2009, one of the key focuses has been placed on boosting the feedback mechanism between the business community and the APEC Leaders, to help steer APEC policies towards greater relevance to the private sector.
With the Chairmanship resting on Singapore this year, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Singapore, having received strong support from the government, is seeking to represent the voice of the private sector interests of the Asia-Pacific economies to the policy-makers.
To begin with, ABAC Singapore is conducting the "
ABAC 'Ease of Doing Business (EoDB)' Survey.
Made available online to the 21 APEC business communities on the ABAC Singapore and Singapore Business Federation websites, the ABAC EoDB Survey seeks to garner opinions from the APEC business community on which business regulations they perceive as causing greatest hindrances to the ease of doing business. Suggestions are also sought from participating business people on the most pressing reforms to existing business regulations that could be made by governments in the Asia-Pacific economies.
Survey participants are asked to rate and prioritize various indicators, modeled after the World Bank's Doing Business Survey, and which span across 10 areas of a doing business; to determine the types of regulations that are seen to most hamper their business operations.
The findings from the survey is expected to lend a better understanding of the difficulties encountered by APEC businesses in dealing with existing business regulations as well as offer insights on the private sector's wish-list of reforms; as APEC policy-makers draw references from the candid views of the APEC business community to provide guidance on shaping the APEC agenda.
The online survey closes on 15 April 2009, 1700hr (GMT + 8).
To participate in the ABAC Ease of Doing Business Survey, please
click here
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23 February 2009
APEC's Working Committees Want to Make APEC Relevant to the Business Community
The APEC Committee of Trade and Investment (CTI) and Economic Committee (EC) highlighted their aims of bringing greater relevance to the business community at their first meetings of 2009 in Singapore at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel on 16-20 February. Both groupings serve as the working level committees that oversee the majority of the work that is done at APEC, and hopes to ensure that their work offers direct benefits to the business community.
The CTI coordinates APEC's work on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, with its eventual goal of achieving a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). Over the course of their meeting, the CTI launched a supply-chain connectivity initiative aimed at enhancing the flow of goods and services across borders. This includes the harmonizing of rules of origin, standardizing of documentation and improving transportation standards, among other initiatives that will ensure huge cost savings for businesses involved in trading across borders.
The EC focuses its efforts in championing structural reform within APEC. As traditional forms of trade and investment facilitation like tariff reductions are exhausted, the emphasis is now on enhancing the business environment behind the border. The EC seeks to ensure that APEC government's policies and regulations, as well as their institutions and markets, promote rather than hinder business.
At their respective meetings last week, both the CTI and EC emphasized how this time of economic crisis provides the opportunity for APEC to accelerate APEC's goals of free and open trade and investment in the region. The two committees and its sub-committees will hold two further meetings in Singapore this year.
Have your say by emailing us at abacsg@sbf.org.sg.
17 February 2009
ABAC Singapore's Letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on concerns over rising protectionism in APEC
Following the 1st ABAC Meeting of the year in Wellington, New Zealand, various ABAC economies have written to their respective APEC Leaders, to re-iterate businesses?concerns over increasing protectionism in APEC.
In the letters, ABAC members reminded Leaders of their commitments made in regards to the G20 Washington Declaration, in Lima last November. The letters also called for APEC Leaders to continue their support for the conclusion of WTO DDA, as well as provided updates on some of the discussion and agreed outcomes from the meeting.
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To read ABAC Singapore's Letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
please
click here
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16 February 2009
APEC Senior Officials to Set Up an Alert and Reporting Mechanism To Address the Economic Crisis
The APEC Senior Officials held their first Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) of 2009 in Singapore at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel on 15-16 February. At the meeting, Senior Officials made addressing the economic crisis as a top priority in this current difficult environment. One measure that was proposed by Senior Officials, and with the full support of ABAC, is the setting up of an alert and reporting mechanism to address the economic crisis.
The reporting mechanism will include a collation of all fiscal, monetary and social resilience measures that APEC economies have introduced so far in their stimulus packages to revive the economy. These measures and best practices may be shared, promoting cooperation and collaboration between APEC economies.
Senior Officials also welcomed ABAC's recommendation to establish a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the key elements of the G20 undertakings to address the present financial challenges and WTO commitments in the context of the specter of rising protectionism. They will draw on the WTO's mechanism to monitor trade policy and inputs from ABAC as a basis for a report on compliance with the Leader's commitment in Lima last year. This report will be tabled at the Meeting of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade in July.
Apart from resisting protectionism, other issues of priority this year are to accelerate regional economic integration and to enhance the business environment. Working together with Senior Officials, ABAC will conduct an Ease of Doing Business Survey, to gather inputs from businesses across the Asia-Pacific, on the priority regulatory impediments to doing business. These inputs will be shared with Senior Officials and provide the impetus for regulatory reform within APEC.
To read the media release of SOM I, please
click here
To participate in the ABAC Ease of Doing Business Survey, please
click here
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12 February 2009
Business Leaders Aim to Draw Attention to Protectionist Threats with Monitoring Tool
The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) concluded its first meeting of the year in Wellington, New Zealand today, citing concerns over the increasing pressures asserted upon economies to undertake protectionist measures in their stimulus packages, and urging the APEC governments against 'backsliding' on their commitment made in November last year on refraining from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services over the next 12 months.
The ABAC has agreed to establish a mechanism for monitoring compliance with the key elements of the G20 undertakings to address the present financial challenges and WTO commitments in the context of the specter of rising protectionism.
To read the full media release, please
click here.
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