Part Ⅱ

ASEAN,APEC and ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a political and economic organization of ten Southeast Asian countries.It was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia,Malaysia,the Philippines,Singapore,and Thailand.Since then,membership has expanded to include Brunei,Cambodia,Laos,Myanmar(Burma),and Vietnam.Its aims include accelerating economic growth,social progress,and socio-cultural evolution among its members,protection of regional peace and stability,and opportunities for member countries to resolve differences peacefully.

ASEAN covers a land area of 4.4 million km ² ,3%of the total land area of the Earth. ASEAN territorial waters cover an area about three times larger than its land counterpart.The member countries have a combined population of approximately 625 million people,8.8%of the world‘s population.In 2013,the organization‘s combined nominal GDP had grown to more than US＄2.4 trillion.If ASEAN were a single entity,it would rank as the seventh largest economy in the world,behind the US,China,Japan,Germany,France,and the United Kingdom.

As set out in the ASEAN Declaration,the aims and purposes of ASEAN are:

·To accelerate economic growth,social progress,and cultural development in the region

·To promote regional peace and stability

·To promote collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest

·To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities

·To collaborate for the better utilisation of agriculture and industry to raise the living standards of the people

·To promote Southeast Asian studies

·To maintain close,beneficial co-operation with existing international organizations with similar aims and purposes

ASEAN Charter

On 15 December 2008,the members ofASEAN met in the Indonesian capital ofJakarta to launch a charter,signed in November 2007,with the aim of moving closer to“an EU-style community”.The charter turns ASEAN into a legal entity and aims to create a single free-trade area for the region encompassing 500 million people.

The ASEAN Way

The“ASEAN Way”refers to a working process or style that is informal and personal.Policymakers constantly utilize compromise,consensus,and consultation in the informal decision-making process.It above all prioritizes a consensus-based,non-conflictual way of addressing problems.Quiet diplomacy allows ASEAN leaders to communicate without bringing the discussions into the public view.Members avoid embarrassment that may lead to further conflict.

It has been said that the merits of the ASEAN Way might be usefully applied to global conflict management.

ASEAN Plus Three

The leaders of each country felt the need to further integrate the region.Beginning in 1997,the bloc began creating organizations with the intention of achieving this goal.ASEAN Plus Three was the first of these and was created to improve existing ties with the People‘s Republic of China,Japan,and South Korea.This was followed by the even larger East Asia Summit(EAS),which included ASEAN Plus Three countries as well as India,Australia,New Zealand,United States,and Russia.

In 2006,ASEAN was given observer status at the United Nations General Assembly.In response,the organization awarded the status of“dialogue partner”to the UN.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC )

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.It was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world;to fears that highly industrialised Japan(a member of G8)would come to dominate economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region;and to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe.

An annual APEC Economic Leaders‘Meeting is attended by the heads of government of all APEC members except Taiwan economic leader(which is represented by a ministerial-level official under the name Chinese Taipei).The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies,and a famous tradition,followed for most(but not all)summits,involves the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member.

History

In January 1989,Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke called for more effective economic cooperation across the Pacific Rim region.This led to the first meeting of APEC in the Australian capital of Canberra in November,chaired by Australian Foreign Affairs Minister and attended by ministers from twelve countries;the meeting concluded with commitments for future annual meetings in Singapore and Korea.

Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)opposed the initial proposal,instead proposing the East Asia Economic Caucus which would exclude non-Asian countries such as the United States,Canada,Australia,and New Zealand.This plan was opposed and strongly criticized by Japan and the United States.

The first APEC Economic Leaders‘Meeting occurred in 1993 when U.S.President Bill Clinton,after discussions with Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating,invited the heads of government from member economies to a summit on Blake Island.He believed it would help bring the stalled Uruguay Round of trade talks back on track.At the meeting,some leaders called for continued reduction of barriers to trade and investment,envisioning a community in the Asia-Pacific region that might promote prosperity through cooperation.The APEC Secretariat,based in Singapore,was established to coordinate the activities of the organization.

Member Economies

APEC currently has 21 members,including most countries or regions with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean.However,the criterion for membership is that the member is a separate economy,rather than a state or region.As a result,APEC uses the term member economies rather than member countries to refer to its members.APEC also includes three official observers:ASEAN,the Pacific Islands Forum and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.

India has requested membership in APEC,and received initial support from the United States,Japan and Australia.Officials have decided not to allow India to join for various reasons.India does not border the Pacific Ocean,which all current members do.However,India was invited to be an observer for the first time in November 2011.

Bangladesh,Pakistan,Sri Lanka,Chinese Macau,Mongolia,Laos,Cambodia,Costa Rica,Colombia,Panama,and Ecuador,are among a dozen other economies seeking membership in APEC,in addition to India.Colombia applied for APEC‘s membership as early as in 1995,but its bid was halted as the organization stopped accepting new members from 1993 to 1996,and the moratorium was further prolonged to 2007 due to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.Guam has also been actively seeking a separate membership,citing the example of Chinese Hong Kong,but the request is opposed by the United States,which currently represents Guam.

Objectives and Activities

During the meeting in 1994 in Bogor,Indonesia,APEC leaders adopted the Bogor Goals that aim for free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialized economies and by 2020 for developing economies.In 1995,APEC established a business advisory body named the APEC Business Advisory Council(ABAC),composed of three business executives from each member economy.

APEC has long been at the forefront of reform efforts in the area of business facilitation.Between 2002 and 2006 the costs of business transactions across the region was reduced by 6%,thanks to the APEC Trade Facilitation Action Plan(TFAPI).Between 2007 and 2010,APEC hopes to achieve an additional 5%reduction in business transaction costs.To this end,a new Trade Facilitation Action Plan has been endorsed.According to a 2008 research brief published by the World Bank as part of its Trade Costs and Facilitation Project,increasing transparency in the region‘s trading system is critical if APEC is to meet its Bogor Goal targets.The APEC Business Travel Card,a travel document for visa-free business travel within the region is one of the concrete measures to facilitate business.In May 2010 Russia joined the scheme,thus completing the circle.

APEC first formally started discussing the concept of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific(FTAAP)at its summit in 2006 in Hanoi.The proposal for a FTAAP arose due to the lack of progress in the Doha round ofWorld Trade Organization negotiations,and as a way to overcome the“noodle bowl”effect created by overlapping and conflicting elements of the copious free trade agreements—there were approximately 60 free trade agreements in 2007,with an additional 117 in the process of negotiation in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.In 2012, ASEAN+6 countries alone had 339 free trade agreements,many of which were bilateral.

The FTAAP is more ambitious in scope than the Doha round,which limits itself to reducing trade restrictions.The FTAAP would create a free trade zone that would considerably expand commerce and economic growth in the region.The economic expansion and growth in trade could exceed the expectations of other regional free trade areas such as the ASEAN Plus Three(ASEAN+China,Japan,and South Korea).

At the 2014 APEC summit in Beijing,APEC leaders agreed to launch“a collective strategic study”on the FTAAP,which will be APEC‘s big goal out into the future. LNIZSHIyRmF5CcbeT4IlaGzMJGqUyMrtGptgS4gVY2kwkXaePS5mvuXcSiVNsjaB