PRIME INISTE 94/ 95
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
RELEASE OF THE APEC EMINENT PERSONS GROUP REPORT:
" IMPLEMENTING THE APEC VISION"
I warmly welcome the third report of the APEC Eminent Persons Group,
" Implementing the APEC Vision", which was presented to Prime Minister
Murayaxna, the 1995 chair of APEC, in Tokyo today.
The APEC Eminent Persons Group was first established in 1992 to develop an
independent vision for APEC to the year 2000. It contains distinguished
representatives from all APEC member econormies, participating in their own
capacities, under the chairmanship of Dr Fred Bergsten of the United States.
Australia's representative on the Group is the Hon Neville Wran. I would
particularly like to thank him for the significant contribution he has made to this
latest report and over the past three years to the work of the Eminent Persons
Group. Last year at their Bogor meeting APEC leaders took the historic decision to
achieve the goal of free and open trade and investmnent in the region by 2010 for
industrialised countries and 2020 for developing countries. The Eminent Persons
Group's 1994 report, " Achieving the APEG Vision: Free and Open Trade in the
Asia-Pacific", was instrumental in putting before leaders the importance of such a
goal. In this latest report the EPG has focussed on fleshing out its ideas on issues
it regards as central to the achievement of the Bogor commitments.
I particularly agree with the report's central proposal that it is essential for
APEC to move promptly, decisively and credibly to implement the visions of
Blake Island and Bogor.
The EPG report contains a number of valuable ideas we would strongly support.
It urges that liberalisation within APEC be undertaken on a comprehensive basis
with agreed timetables and principles. It recommends that APEC take as
forthcoming an approach as possible to implementing our Bogor decision to
accelerate, deepen and broaden our Uruguay Round commitments and it proposes
a way forward for APEC in areas such as dispute mediation, investment and
standards. It has proposed that APEC should deepen its cooperation on monetary
and macroeconomic issues and it has made suggestions for deepening
developiient and technical cooperation in APEC, as an integral part of
community building in the Asia Pacific region.
The report will be a significant source of ideas on which leaders can draw in
Osaka to take forward the APEC vision for trade and investment liberalisation
within the region.
CANBERRA August 1995
[ Copies of the Report may be obtained from Michelle Innes, Macquarie Bank,
telephone number 02 237 4102]