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Promoting Sustainable Economic Growth
Economic Committee Report
58. Ministers endorsed the Economic Committee
(EC)'s Report for 2001 and welcomed the progress made in its
four core projects: (1) 2001 APEC Economic Outlook; (2) the
New Economy and APEC; (3) the Benefits of TILF; (4) the Implementation
Plan for KBE Recommendations. Ministers welcomed the 2001
APEC Economic Outlook especially its thematic study on financial
development and economic growth, which is particularly timely
in face of the current global economic slowdown and member
economies' collective resolve to foster long-term economic
vitality. They also endorsed The New Economy and APEC report
that offers a conceptual framework and useful elements for
creating an environment in which the New Economy could develop.
Ministers acknowledged the importance of the Benefits of TILF
projects, which emphasized the creation of more open and free
trade and investment environment. Ministers urged the continuous
implementation of the KBE Recommendations and instructed the
EC to continue its work on KBE issues. Interaction with the
Finance Ministers' Process
59. Ministers welcomed the outcomes from
the 8th APEC Finance Ministers' process, and were encouraged
by the efforts and contribution made by the Finance Ministers
under the policy theme of "Growth with Restructuring,
Stability and Equity" in the year of 2001. They acknowledged
the important role of the Finance Ministers' process in taking
appropriate policies in a timely manner and constructing a
stronger macroeconomic foundation for the region in the long
run.
60. Ministers welcomed the practice of
strengthening linkages and communications between the Finance
Ministers' process and the SOM process in 2001 with a view
to ensuring the work programs coordinate and complement each
other. Given the current global and regional economic downturn,
Ministers further underlined the importance of continuing
the inter-process briefing and exchange of views between the
Finance Ministers' process and SOM on a regular basis so as
to facilitate information sharing and coordination.
61. Ministers welcomed the APEC Finance
and Development Program proposed by China, which aims at enhancing
capacity building in the areas of financial market management
especially for developing economies across the APEC region.
62. Ministers also welcomed the report
"Towards Better Company Accounting and Financial Reporting"
prepared for and accepted by the APEC Finance Ministers, and
encouraged member economies to raise awareness of the importance
of robust financial reporting, accounting, auditing and enforcement
practices supported by a sound legal, professional and regulatory
infrastructure.
Social Impact of the Crisis
63. Ministers welcomed the recommendations
of the Ad Hoc Task Force on Strengthening APEC Social Safety
Nets (SSN). They endorsed the proposed establishment of an
APEC SSN Capacity Building Network that, in the first instance,
would focus on capacity building to implement the SSN recommendations
made by the Finance Ministers and in the study conducted in
the HRDWG. Ministers welcomed the proposals by Korea and Thailand
to co-organize an international meeting to address specific
capacity building issues on SSN.
Energy
64. Energy security stands as an important
issue for economic development and regional prosperity. In
light of the terrorist attacks in the United States, Ministers
directed the EWG to intensify its work on strengthening the
security and reliability of affordable energy to all in APEC,
through such means as exchange of information and experience
on oil stockpiling, on facilitating energy efficiency and
conservation, and on facilitating improved stability in the
provision of energy supply to meet demand. They called for
further energy technology development, exchange, application
and deployment, and for the facilitation of a diverse and
efficient supply mix to avoid the risks posed to the economy
by volatility in the international oil market. Ministers welcomed
the progress made on the Energy Security Initiative and directed
the EWG to implement the concrete work in the progress report
on the Initiative. They also called on economies to encourage
greater private sector involvement in the EWG work program
and the EWG to cooperate closely with the EWG Business Network.
Ministers requested Senior Officials to report in 2002 on
progress made in the Initiative.
Interaction with the Community
Dialogue with ABAC
65. Ministers welcomed the ABAC Report
to Leaders, Common Development through Market Opening, Capacity
Building and Full Participation. They noted the four key messages
to the Leaders, calling on APEC economies (1) to accelerate
progress towards the Bogor Goals of trade and investment liberalization
and facilitation; (2) to demonstrate strong support for the
launch of new WTO round; (3) to take decisive measures to
stimulate economic growth and accelerate financial reforms;
and (4) to adopt a balanced approach to globalization that
combines market opening, capacity-building and full participation.
In light of the broadening and deepening of regional and global
economic integration, Ministers noted that the four messages
presented by the ABAC Report contribute to the APEC process
in the new century. Ministers recognized that regular consultation
with business, including SMEs, would ensure that APEC work
remains focused and has practical usefulness for business.
Ministers also noted the importance of the BizAPEC website
for APEC's engagement and communication with business.
Youth
66. Ministers commended China and Canada
for their initiative in organizing the highly successful APEC
Youth Festival/Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs Forum, welcomed
in particular the complementarity between this event and APEC
work in connection with engagement with the private sector,
the new economy and human capacity building, and encouraged
that complementarity with the APEC agenda be a key characteristic
of future APEC projects aimed at young people.
67. Ministers commended Mexico's offer
to organize the 2002 APEC Youth Festival.
Framework for Integration of Women
68. Ministers commended Ad-hoc Group
on Gender Integration (AGGI)'s achievements over the past
two years and endorsed SOM's report on the Implementation
of the Framework for the Integration of Women in APEC. They
endorsed SOM's recommendations including the extension of
AGGI's term to the end of 2002 in order to enable it to complete
its work.
69. Ministers emphasized the importance
of and their commitment to the involvement of women in the
activities of APEC. They instructed officials and APEC fora
to continue to ensure that women are involved in and benefit
from their work. Ministers tasked officials to complete the
development of monitoring mechanisms to ensure the sustainability
of gender mainstreaming initiatives in APEC.
70. Ministers welcomed Mexico's offer
to host the Second Ministerial Meeting on Women in 2002, and
urged members to ensure full participation in the lead up
to and during the meeting. Ministers took note of the proposed
research project on fostering SMEs and micro-businesses through
IT capacity-building for women.
Communications and Outreach Strategy
71. The movement towards global integration
presented the greatest opportunity to deliver higher living
standards and improved social well-being for APEC communities.
Ministers reaffirmed that the benefits of globalization should
be shared by and be better communicated to APEC communities.
In this regard, Ministers welcomed the report on "Globalisation
and Poverty: Turning the Corner". Ministers also noted
that ABAC has expressed its intentions to improve its outreach
and encouraged continuous efforts in fostering productive
partnership and cooperation with the private sector.
72. In this regard, Ministers accepted
the SOM Report on APEC Interaction and on Public Outreach
and Communications, reinforcing the importance for APEC of
ensuring appropriate community engagement and input in its
work, and endorsed the APEC Communications and Outreach Strategy.
In this connection, they welcomed commitments by economies
to provide resources to support APEC-wide work in outreach,
as well as to encourage domestic programs that explain APEC's
work and the benefits of open markets. Ministers further instructed
relevant APEC fora to identify and invite the participation
of outside groups that can make a contribution to their work.
Ministers also directed Senior Officials to make further progress
in examining the possibility of simplifying the management
and administration of the guidelines on non-member participation
within the existing policy principles and report the result
next year.
Management Issues
2002 Budget
73. Ministers endorsed the SOM Chair's
report on budget and management issues and approved the contributions
from member economies for 2002 to the APEC Central Fund totaling
US$3,338,000 and the 2002 budget totaling US$8,576,395.
74. Ministers further instructed Senior
Officials to continue their work in improving efficiency and
effective use of time in all APEC fora, particularly by undertaking
further work in the area of reporting requirements and project-related
procedures, as well as clarifying a standard expectation of
Secretariat support for APEC fora, and to report to the next
Ministerial meeting on the progress made.
APEC Secretariat
75. Ministers took note and welcomed
the report of the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat,
and expressed their appreciation to Amb. Zhang Yan and the
staff of the Secretariat for their devotion and contribution
to the APEC process. Ministers also thanked the Singapore
government for its generosity in constructing a new office
building for the Secretariat to be ready in 2002.
Other Issues
Statement by Observers
76. Ministers took note of the statements
by ASEAN Secretariat, PECC and PIF.
APEC 2002
77. Ministers thanked Mexico for the
briefing on preparations for the Fourteenth APEC Ministerial
Meeting and the Tenth APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Los
Cabos, Mexico. The preliminary list of priority issues embodies,
inter alia:
Growth policies for the new economy,
including appropriate trade and investment, macro-economic,
financial and business facilitation policies;??? Building capacities
to reap the benefits of economic development including the
promotion of SMEs and micro-enterprises;??? Making APEC a more
relevant forum to our people, including fostering greater
participation of youth and women, stepping up our efforts
in communicating the benefits of globalization and the improvement
of the functioning of APEC.
The overall framework is to implement
our shared vision of expanding the benefits of economic growth
and development.
Future Meetings
78. Ministers noted the 2003 to 2005
Ministerial Meetings will be held in Thailand, Chile and the
Republic of Korea respectively.
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