APEC-EUROPE: Tries To Avoid Being Sidelined (1) An Inter Press Service Feature

HONG KONG, Nov 14 (IPS) - The European Union (EU) is determined not to be left by the wayside as members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum discuss trade among themselves this week in Indonesia and possibly agree on a free trade zone in the Pacific Rim by the next century.

Indeed, economists here say it is no coincidence that EU trade commissioner Leon Brittan is now on a tour of China, Hong Kong and Japan. Last month, British trade minister Richard Needham also visited several Asian countries, including Indonesia, with a group of British businessmen interested in investing in the region.

"We are ready for Asia and keen to do business," Brittan said in Hong Kong Friday. Analysts here translate this as: Europe should not be forgotten.

Brittan can hardly deflect attention from the 18-member APEC, which includes China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Papua New Guinea, Mexico and Chile.

APEC has been holding meetings in Jakarta since last week, culminating in a leaders' summit Tuesday in the Indonesian resort town of Bogor.

European diplomats say Brittan's official's aim on this trip is to change perceptions in Asia that Europe is an inward-looking fortress concerned only with its own expanding trade bloc.

At a World Economic Forum (WEF) of Asian and European political and business leaders in Singapore last month, WEF president Klaus Schwab said discussions among delegates had shown that relations between Europe and Asia were underdeveloped.

"I am very concerned that with APEC the emphasis will so much be on cross-Pacific relations, that we Europeans in the long-run may lose out,"Schwab said.

Several European countries including Britain, France and Germany have recognised the importance of the fast-growing Asian market, with high-powered businessmen accompanying ministerial delegations to China in particular to help secure contracts and deals particularly in the infrastructure sector.

But the EU is convinced that more is needed than a piecemeal 'delegation' approach by a few countries if Europe is to counter aggressive U.S. inroads into Asia.

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