APEC vision: realistic blueprint or idealistic aspiration?
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The dream's apex
On the other side of the coin, pundits contend that everything that APEC has and does stand for and the goals laid down by its member economies on Sunday in Yokohama, do indeed represent targets that whilst may not seem immediately tangible or attainable, are worthy.
Worthy in as much as they champion a collective consciousness and actively encourage member economies to strengthen ties as they push towards the ideals of achieving such goals as sustained economic, social and environmental growth and development in the region.
And whilst there may be differing opinions between member economies on the best steps towards achieving FTAA, with coteries for ASEAN+3, ASEAN+6 and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) vying for ascendancy, economics and politics are inseparable and hence any concrete steps forward can only come through multilateral dialogue and positive diplomacy -- and with the current diplomatic climate in the region being less than cozy, the implementation of APEC's vision may help to defrost some of the chill.
"APEC is focusing, as it always has, on promoting free and open trade and investment, because this helps economies to grow. APEC is also looking to the future, through the development of a new growth strategy. The strategy maps the road ahead for the region, towards economic growth that is balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure," APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor, told Xinhua.
And such a roadmap for growth, which prioritizes cooperation and balance and necessitates developing and improving multilateral relations in the region, can only be a good thing, some experts attest.
"...So in this regard APEC presents a positive and productive path forward that will benefit member economies both economically, politically and socially in the future," Teruhisa Muramatsu, an independent analysts and political scientist, told Xinhua.
"As the region presents such amazing growth prospects, APEC's blueprint for both developed and developing economies can only be heralded as remarkable and although for some it may seem like a dream, hopefully we'll look back in 20-years as the Pacific-rim economies are flourishing and remember that it was all laid out in Yokohama."
APEC's new vision for a collective growth strategy, centered around the proposition of creating a sprawling free trade network in the region, encompasses myriad plans which span extensive issues, ranging from structural reform and human security, to human resource the development of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Formed in 1989, APEC was designed to help bring down trade barriers. At a summit in Bogor, Indonesia in 1994, it set goals of free and open trade for industrialized nations by this year, and for developing countries by 2020.
APEC groups Australia, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Taiwan, the United States, and seven ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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