European eyes beginning to turn towards APEC's potential outcomes
By Channel NewsAsia's Olly Barratt | Posted: 05 November 2009 1505 hrs

	Photos  of

LONDON: With the APEC summit in Singapore fast approaching, European eyes are beginning to turn towards the meeting's potential outcomes.

European countries hope APEC can bring about a boost in trade.

The European Union is a formidable presence on the international stage, with huge power, its own currency, and representing one of the largest economies on earth.

But it has been hit hard by the recession, and so the upcoming APEC summit will be closely watched all over the continent.

Europe sees Asia as its greatest potential for future growth as recovery continues, so all eyes will be on APEC to see what, if anything, concrete the summit can deliver.

Vanessa Rossi, International Economics Fellow at Chatham House, said: "Well, they're certainly going to be looking for the tone or the undertone of this issue of trade and how Asia's feeling about this. And looking, perhaps, for signs that there will be statement made about this, about what might be done to try to revive it, particularly within the region, since growth is reasonably strong.

"There may be moves towards boosting various forms of packages - trade, finance as well - to improve the situation. And that of course is critical to Europe because Europe in a way has some similar problems with trade - far more dependent on trade than the US is, for example.

"The US' primary concern is regenerating its own consumer spending and investment, whereas in Europe, there's still a heavy dependency on the trade outlook, particularly of course for lead economy Germany."

But times have been tough for the EU recently, not just economically. The European Union has faced a struggle to ratify its Lisbon reform treaty and disputes over who should become President of the European Council.

And so continued economic growth across much of the APEC region may have unsettled some in Brussels and elsewhere on the continent.

Ms Rossi added: "The efforts made in Asia to support growth and trade during the recession have clearly paid off. They have achieved growth. China has spent enough money to make sure its growth rate is not just well above recession, but actually rising to nine per cent during the third quarter.

"No country in Europe has been able to manage that. There have been efforts made to offset the recession, but way too weak to achieve the result that China has, and Asia has."

APEC's strength and continued growth presents opportunities for some European countries. For example, the UK feels it is well positioned - with its large financial centre in London - to take advantage of a boom in that sector in Asia.

Some have expressed concern that UK banking jobs and even whole companies will relocate to Asia, but it may work both ways, to London's benefit.

Ms Rossi added: "Don't forget that many of those leaders from China - from Shanghai, from Beijing, from Hong Kong, Taiwan - Singapore, Korea, Japan and other countries, actually, many of their bankers are coming here to look for potential markets here in the UK, or through the UK to Europe.

"And so the UK, and London in particular, is still very much in the lead in this kind of area of world exchange."

Europe will certainly be watching the APEC summit carefully, but it will be with a mixture of emotions - hope, that it can deliver a boost to trade, and expectation, that APEC will become more important as a body over the coming years.

And not a small measure of envy that many APEC members have weathered the financial storm better than some nations here in Europe. - CNA/vm