The third meeting of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) titled “Building towards the Bogor Goals with One Community” will take place in Da Nang, Vietnam from August 24-27, 2009. At the event, ABAC will give some recommendations to leaders and ministers in charge of trade of APEC member economies in an effort to build a favourable business environment. On the threshold of the meeting, Hoang Van Dung, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) cum President of ABAC Vietnam gave the press an interview about the meeting.
How do APEC member economies acquire and deal with ABAC’s recommendations?
Every year, we give out the most important issues, especially, urgent matters of enterprises at dialogues between ABAC and leaders of APEC member economies.
Over the past time, leaders of APEC member economies have taken a great number of measures to deal with recommendations of enterprises, facilitating the exchange of trade and investment among members in the bloc. Especially, thanks to ABAC’s recommendations on difficulties of enterprises while working with administrative offices, current administrative procedures are much simpler than earlier.
Currently, enterprises belonging to APEC member economies are facing new difficulties, for example, the recent economic crisis.
Which of ABAC’s recommendations sent to leaders of APEC member economies are you interested in?
We gave out 10 recommendations to ministers and three recommendations to APEC’s leaders. Specifically, ABAC proposed trade ministers to solve challenges caused by the global economic crisis. APEC member economies should implement commitments on preventing protective measures; finishing Doha negotiations; fostering regional economic integration, facilitating trade and investment capital flows; supporting the development of the SME bloc; expanding and furthering the connection; making safe energy and climate changes; ensuring food security; promoting trade with environmental-friendly goods and services.
Among the aforementioned recommendations, we saw that matters related to solving challenges caused by the global economic crisis need implementing resolutely and absolutely. APEC member economies should also strictly implement commitments on preventing protective measures. Over the past time, due to the economic crisis, some APEC member economies have trended towards applying trade barriers, impacting trade liberalisation and competition.
We also recommended APEC leaders to pay attention to regional and global issues instead of interior matters while boosting demand stimulus packages as well as measures for solving inland economic crisis. For example, the U.S. and developed industrial economies should open their export markets in a bid to help small economies like Vietnam develop their economies, boost exports, eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, and create jobs.
In the circumstance of the standstill of the Doha negotiations, what is ABAC’s recommendation on the issue?
ABAC is sorry about the sluggishness of the Doha Development negotiations over the last year since the failure of the ministers’ meeting in July, 2008. Facing this situation, ABAC members recommended establishing a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). We also proposed ministers to have specific steps to make up a timetable in order to have careful considerations on important trade issues towards the direction of FTAAP.
| In ABAC, Vietnam will continue supporting and proposing APEC members to be flexible to speed up the implementation of negotiations in an effort to finish successfully the Doha negotiations. Vietnam supports protecting and upholding the benefits of developing countries in the Doha negotiations. Vietnam considers FTAAP as a long-term goal and a choice for its regional economic integration right after the Bogor goal completed in 2020. Vietnam applauds and supports APEC and ABAC to carry out research programmes on FTAAP, to determine potential impacts of FTAAP on the growth rate and the sustainable development of APEC members, especially developing members. |
This move is aimed at creating a common playground for 21 APEC member economies, reducing administrative procedures and standardising administrative procedures. Common rules of the game will create favourable conditions for APEC members in exporting and importing goods, as well as helping restore the belief on the possibility of APEC’s contribution to regional economic recovery.
Some APEC members participated in trade liberalisation with particular rules and Vietnam was invited to join. Can you talk about some details?
At the APEC summit in 2008 in Peru, Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet expressed Vietnam’s desire to participate in the bloc of eight free trade economic markets in which the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Mexico are huge export and import markets. Once becoming a member of the bloc, Vietnam will operate under the common rules stimulated in the bloc, and must not negotiate separately with each country.
I hope Vietnam will soon join the bloc to make easy for goods to be exported. Especially, the U.S and Australia are two countries who have huge outlets and Vietnam should be able to boost exports to the two countries.
Thoa Nguyen
Vietnamese
