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SINGAPORE: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum has repeatedly shown itself to be useful in times of crisis. That's the view of ministers and academics at a symposium to commemorate the 20th anniversary of APEC.
The symposium on Tuesday was organised by Singapore's Institute of Policy Studies.
It has been 20 good years for APEC, said Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo. But he cautioned members against resting on their laurels.
Mr Yeo said: "It is quite a remarkable achievement. Many things could have gone wrong and there were ups and downs but because leaders met, because we had goals, we kept the agenda positive, so little by little, despite occasional problems, we pushed on.
"We must keep pushing, because the moment we stop pushing, the moment we stop putting forth a positive agenda, there is a natural tendency to go backwards. The negative nay-sayers will overwhelm us in time.
"When there are crisis moments, having a platform where leaders, ministers, officials, business leaders and academics meet regularly and establish bonds of friendship can matter decisively.
"It is critical to maintain a positive agenda. It is important to consolidate and deepen APEC."
Symposium participants also called for greater collaboration between APEC and other regional institutions.
Ministers and experts taking part in the APEC symposium also emphasised the important role that the G20 countries can play in pushing the agenda of trade and economic liberalisation.
In fact, ASEAN too now has a place in the G20 forum, with the ASEAN chair being invited to take part in the discussions. Experts do not see the G20 as a threat to APEC.
US APEC delegate, Kurt Tong, said: "There is a great opportunity for APEC and the G20 to feed off each other in mutually reinforcing ways, much in the way that APEC and WTO have assisted each other in the areas of trade, investments and liberalisation."
For World Bank president Robert Zoellick, a key lesson learnt from the global economic crisis was the need to keep promoting open markets - mainly through formal trade agreements.
He said: "What I find most intriguing, though, out of the global trade and liberalisation and its connection to APEC is (that) since I spend my time in global bodies, most of the focus coming out of Europe in this crisis is now focused on regulation, compensation, bonuses.
"It is quite intriguing (when it comes) to Asia, where the sense is: if you have a slow growth path, the idea, the real challenge is what structural changes do you need to have to increase the possibilities of growth.
"I find that very healthy and it actually is very important as one considers future global arrangements..."
For the future, ministers believe there is much work to consolidate and deepen the work of APEC. Among them are financial reform, climate change and the global trading agenda, with the aim of creating a better world.
- CNA/ir
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