I am pleased to announce Australian support for initiatives on security, anti corruption and regional assistance agreed by APEC leaders in Chile. These initiatives demonstrate Australia's commitment to the security and economic prosperity of the region. They also underline the shared commitment of leaders to work together to address issues of concern.
Australia has played a leading role to develop a regional passports alert system. I am pleased to announce leaders have agreed to pilot the system in 2005. The Regional Movement Alert List will strengthen the ability of participating countries to fight terrorism by monitoring the movement of people across our borders.
There are currently two to three million lost or stolen passports recorded in the APEC region, which presents a significant opportunity for persons of concern to move across borders undetected. The Regional Movement Alert List will make this much harder by allowing countries to check passenger details against shared data on lost or stolen passports. The United States and Chile have agreed to work with us on the pilot and we hope other APEC members will join the pilot in the future.
Australia strongly supports APEC's commitment to fight corruption in the region. Corruption increases the costs of doing business and can act as a powerful disincentive for foreign investors. Under APEC's anti-corruption initiative, members will receive training and technical assistance to investigate and prosecute corruption cases, increase judicial integrity and combat money-laundering and terrorist financing. Australia will provide $3 million over three years to support a range of regional projects.
APEC's regional assistance programmes on trade and security are an important element of APEC's work. I am pleased to announce leaders supported Australia's proposal to establish an APEC support fund, to broaden the funding base for APEC's project work. The fund will be open to contributions from APEC members and private sector sources. Australia will provide $3 million over three years to help establish the fund.
APEC leaders also agreed to proposals to enhance energy security in the region. Australia will support this effort by contributing to a major assessment of the impact of high energy prices on trade and economic activity in the APEC region. We will also continue our leadership role on energy security issues as Chair of the APEC Energy Working Group.