Opening Remarks by Mr Teng Theng Dar, Chair, ABAC 2009, at “Business Luncheon with APEC Trade Ministers” on 22 July 2009, 12.00 pm – 03.00 pm, Acacia Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
Dear Ministers,
Senior Officials,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
A very good afternoon to everyone.
1. On behalf of the Singapore Business Federation and the US- APEC Business Coalition, I would like to welcome all of you to the Business Luncheon with APEC Trade Ministers.
2. In the good traditional spirit of APEC, today's Luncheon is the best practice of demonstrating the Public Private Partnership, in reflecting the strong desire of both the governments and businesses in promoting an open and conducive business environment in the APEC region.
3. We are very honoured to have later on in the program, a panel discussion with His Excellency Lim Hng Kiang, The Honorable Ronald Kirk, and Her Excellency Mari Pangestu which I believe many of us here will look forward to.
4. This year, Singapore is proud to hold the chairmanship of the APEC. Singapore is committed to ensure a coordinated and strong multi-year agenda for APEC and is also determined to engage businesses in this agenda. By the end of today’s Luncheon, we hope to bring an even closer engagement between the government and the business community.
5. The fundamental goal of APEC is to fulfill the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific. As the private sector arm of APEC, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is also performing an important role in providing the business’ inputs and recommendations to our Leaders in helping to achieve the goal.
6. This is depicted in ABAC’s theme “Building towards the Bogor Goals with One Community” for 2009. I am grateful for the support of my ABAC colleagues from the other APEC economies of some of whom are with us today. I would also like to thank all business leaders, like many of you here today, for the active engagement to exchange insights to refine our ABAC work plan. I am pleased to say that we hold a closely knitted working relationship to ensure that the objectives of APEC are met.
7. The world financial system is now undergoing a global economic crisis of staggering proportions. This Luncheon serves as an opportune platform to showcase APEC governments’ commitment in addressing the pressing issues that businesses are facing today.
8. The current global economic slowdown has driven some economies to adopt seemingly protectionist policies that threaten to disrupt trade. The hosting of this Luncheon today could not have been more appropriate as it surrounds the topics of trade liberalization and acceleration of regional economic integration, and display the strong working relationship between the government and the business community in circumventing protectionism.
9. ABAC and businesses at large call on our government to reaffirm their commitments to the Lima and G20 statements. Being the champion of promoting and developing the spirit of free and open trade and investment, APEC will risk losing its creditability and relevance if many economies subscribe to the temptation of any reactionary measures of protectionism.
10. To accelerate the regional economic integration, “at the border”, “behind the border” and “across the border”, an emphasis has been placed on structural reform and in particular, improving the business environment among APEC economies. While businesses must continue to reiterate that protectionist measures “at-the-border” are indeed unhelpful and non-beneficial to the global economy, we should not allow institutional and regulatory impediments “behind-the-border” dampen trade and investment and further worsen and prolong the economic downturn.
11. The business language is stateless. At the very fundamental level, all forms of regulation are deemed as barriers to businesses. But this is not to say that regulation serves no purpose. Businesses welcome regulations that help maintain a certain level of standard and ensuring an equal playing field for all. In an ever fast changing market place, competition of companies, irrespective of size, is determined by the availability and capacity of integrated and seamless supply chain in which companies operate in. Thus the importance of Ease of Doing Business in the APEC region to provide cheaper, faster and easier options is critical in any business decision making.
12. ABAC believes that the key to simplify trade across the borders and enhance connectivity in supply chains, logistics & transport would be through the development of an APEC single-window. Ultimately, all that we are hoping for is for other non-critical and non-essential regulations to be reduced or removed, to enable businesses to grow and contribute to overall economic prosperity.
13. In today’s challenging economic environment, these cross border trade initiatives would not only benefit the key players in the market but also the Small and Medium Enterprises. SMEs are a leading employer of the work force, and are a significant contributor to their respective economies. However, they are also among the first to be at risk during a financial crisis due to the lack of knowledge and resources to navigate their way around the vast overseas markets. With the continuous push for acceleration of the regional economic integration, SMEs will soon be able to pave their way into the global markets and enjoy the fruits of globalization.
14. 2009 is an arduous year for businesses with the economic crisis and global predicaments like the Influenza A epidemic. Despite these impediments, we hope that policymakers will remain steadfast in their commitment to safeguard the smooth facilitation of trade and investment in the APEC region. The relevancy, big impact and economic growth of APEC going forward, will depend heavily on the regional policy and commitments from the governments. We hope to continue to receive great support from the policymakers and Leaders, to build on a strong APEC-ABAC-Private Sector collaboration.
15. On this note, I would like to thank all of you for attending today’s Luncheon. Like all the business leaders who are present today, I look forward to having a fruitful discussion with the Ministers in a while and I thank you for your kind attention.
Concluding Remarks by Mr Gempachiro Aihara, Co-Chair, ABAC 2009, at “Business Luncheon with APEC Trade Ministers” on 22 July 2009, 12.00 pm – 03.00 pm, Acacia Ballroom, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
Your Excellency Mr. Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade & Industry of Singapore, the Honorable Mr. Ronald Kirk, United States Trade Representative, Your Excellency Ms Mari Pangestu, Minister of Trade, Indonesia, WTO Director General Mr. Pascal Lamy, APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade, APEC Senior Officials, ABAC Chair 2009, my good friend Mr. Teng Theng Dar, Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Business Federation, dear colleague ABAC members, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It is truly an honor and brings me great pleasure to speak in front of all the distinguished participants of this very important function. I appreciate the ingenuity of the hosting economy, Singapore to plan a direct interface program such as this one between Business and Ministers Responsible for Trade. I feel it is very appropriate, especially in this very difficult and challenging time for the business community and the Ministers Responsible for Trade to meet in one and share views and opinions.
We are experiencing an unprecedented crisis. While at times, we are starting to see some early signs of recovery, so much work still remains. It is the kind of work that cannot be achieved only by the business community initiative nor could it be done by government directives alone. It cannot be accomplished by the efforts of a single economy or a small group of a few. It will have to be a well coordinated and total effort which adds all the more to the importance of a function of this kind.
ABAC has responded quite sharply since the outset of the crisis. ABAC issued two extraordinary letters of recommendations and warnings to leaders during 2008 aside from the annual letter and report of recommendations, pointing out the necessity to take immediate and concrete actions to stimulate each economy to prevent the world economy from slipping into a deep recession. ABAC also forewarned the leaders not to take any kind of a protectionist measure even if it were WTO compliant and looked reasonable.
In 2009 also, under the leadership of ABAC Chair, Mr. Teng Theng Dar, ABAC has been swift in making further recommendations and advice to each of the leaders and has kept a watchful eye over the economic situation and policies of APEC economies while at the same time has continued to rigorously pursue other short, mid, and long term agenda.
Having had the opportunity to attend the Meetings since yesterday, I am encouraged to find out that Ministers Responsible for Trade and ABAC share a great deal of the same concern over the state of APEC and world economy and have a common sense as to what issues have to be addressed, short, mid and long term. As I look towards 2010 when Japan will be the hosting economy of APEC and ABAC, I am hopeful to continue, as we had been doing, to cooperate under the leadership of the Ministers Responsible for Trade to further promote the cause of APEC even at this time of great difficulty. In the capacity of ABAC Chair which I will be succeeding from my good friend Mr. Teng Theng Dar, I will try my best to continue to send relevant messages to the Ministers Responsible for Trade and to pursue the ABAC agenda in harmony with the decisions and policies set by the Ministers.
We are hoping that 2010 will be a year when we can talk about “GROWTH“ as a means not only to exit from the recession but to build towards a robust and sustainable growth for all. Growth not just economically but towards a community where the quality of the lives of people matter. With “GROWTH” as a KEY WORD, we at ABAC Japan would like to continue with the great agenda that ABAC Singapore so finely pursued so that we can further add value to the ABAC agenda and then to pass on the ABAC baton to the United States.
We do realize however, that we will not be able to accomplish the 2010 task alone. We will continue to seek for the support and cooperation of the Ministers, our colleagues and friends, and guests present here today and hope to be a partner of relevance to all.
With that I would like to close my remarks by thanking you once again for the opportunity to speak to you today and wish that the rest of the 2009 APEC/ABAC Singapore Year will continue to be successful and I look forward to seeing all of you in Japan next year.
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