By Neena Bhandari
Sydney : The influential Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) will benefit from India becoming its member, says Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as his country prepares to host the organisation’s summit attended by its 21 member nations that include the US, Russia, China and Japan.
“It is certainly my private view that APEC will benefit from India being a member, but from our discussions over the last three months, there has certainly not been any emerging consensus for expanding the membership of APEC,” Downer told IANS at the Foreign Correspondents’ Association (Australia & South Pacific) newsmaker luncheon Tuesday.
This week Australia hosts a meeting of heads of states of APEC countries, 4,000 senior officials, foreign and trade ministers, business leaders and over 1,500 journalists in Sydney.
“There are number of applicants, at least 12 countries ranging from Latin and Central America to Cambodia, Mongolia and India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka who would like to join APEC,” Downer said.
APEC economies now account for more than half of global GDP and nearly half of world trade.
Echoing the minister’s view was the editorial in Tuesday’s Sydney Morning Herald: “APEC is a unique forum, in that it includes the major East Asian and North American economies. And if the leaders in Sydney have any sense, it will quickly recruit the other emerging global economic pole, India, now that the 10-year moratorium on new members is expiring.”
Expecting to see groups of people calling for an instant end to poverty; decrying the evils of globalisation; and urging immediate action on climate change, Downer urged the media to look beyond the protesters.
He said: “APEC is playing a crucial role in building a prosperous and sustainable future in the Asia-Pacific.”
The minister added: “There is no suggestion that a European Union arrangement for the Asia-Pacific is around the corner.
“Between 1988 (the year before APEC was founded) until 2006, poverty has actually halved in those APEC economies. At the same time, incomes per person, in APEC economies, have more than doubled.”
He said: “Our goal this year is to get APEC to send a strong signal on the importance of driving forward towards an effective conclusion to the Doha Round of WTO trade negotiations. I think there is a growing view within the APEC economies that we should look at a Free Trade Area for the Asia Pacific region as a possible long-term goal.”
The APEC Business Travel Card gives businesspeople multiple entry visas for travel to 17 APEC economies.
The other issues on the agenda are counter-terrorism, health and emergency preparedness, energy security and climate change.
The 21 APEC members, referred to as ‘Member Economies’, are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.