• by IPS Correspondents (jakarta)
• Saturday, November 12, 1994
• Inter Press Service

JAKARTA, Nov 12 (IPS) - Eighteen ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum today agreed to take steps to free trade in the Pacific Rim, but still would not put down on paper a target date for that to happen.

The decision on when Pacific free trade should go into force is being left to the 18 heads of government who will meet on Nov. 15 in the resort town of Bogor near the Indonesian capital.

Ministers in the past two days discussed proposals to target a free trade zone by the year 2020, but concerns about the pace of liberalisation and whether the reduction of trade barriers would be on a reciprocal basis with non-APEC members stalled a consensus at the ministerial level.

No mention of the timetable was made in the 15-page joint statement issued by APEC ministers this afternoon. "We would want for our leaders to discuss this and not in any way preempt the Bogor discussions," Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said.

U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said his government hopes and expects that "the visioning goal of free trade in the region by 2020 will be endorsed at Bogor by our leaders," though member countries would be liberalising trade at "different speeds".

APEC groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Chile became APEC's 18th member here Saturday.

Outside the Jakarta Convention Center where the ministers met, activists in Indonesia are using the APEC meetings to publicise their concern about press curbs and human rights.

Some 30 students staged a sudden protest at the U.S. embassy here, unfurling banners calling for the release of East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao.

A group of Asia-Pacific non-government organisations was set Saturday morning to hold a press conference to convey some doubts about the freer trade scenario being considered at the APEC meetings, but were stopped by hotel security that demanded a permit.

Several NGO activists led by M.S. Zulkarnaen of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment ended up talking to the press at the lobby of the Hotel Sahid Jaya, where several APEC ministers are billeted. Zulkarnaen said hotel officials said they were advised by "security outside the hotel" that the NGO meeting was not desirable.

NGOs said they planned other surprise protest action during the next few days.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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