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| Asia-Pacific leaders pledge free trade area |
| 2010-11-15 |
| (KUNA) -- Leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations pledged Sunday to work toward creating a vast free trade area in the Pacific Rim region and adopted growth strategy. "We have agreed that now is the time for APEC to translate the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) from an aspirational to a more concrete vision. To that end, we instruct APEC to take concrete steps toward realization of an FTAAP, which is a major instrument to further APEC's regional economic integration agenda," 21 leaders from countries around the Pacific Rim said in a joint declaration at the end of a two-day summit in the port city of Yokohama near Tokyo. "We believe that an FTAAP should be pursued as a comprehensive free trade agreement by developing and building on ongoing regional undertakings, such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus three, ASEAN plus six, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)," they said in "Yokohama Vision" declaration. China favors the 13-nation "ASEAN Plus 3" trade initiative, which includes the 10-member ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea, and ASEAN plus six includes the ASEAN plus three in addition to India, Australia and New Zealand, while the US-backed TPP includes Brunei, Singapore, Chile and New Zealand. "It is clear that APEC members cannot continue with growth as usual and the quality of growth needs to be improved, so that it will be more balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative, and secure," the leaders said. "This is essential even as we pursue APEC's core objective of a vigorous trade and investment agenda aimed at strengthening economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region," the leaders said. "To promote liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, we will seek to become a close community that promotes deeper economic integration," Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who chaired the summit, said as he unveiled "Yokohama Vision" at the end of the talks. "To realize this, we will make an FTAAP the goal for APEC," Kan said. The declaration also seeks to ban member countries from introducing new trade barriers by the end of 2013 in order to deter protectionism. Established in 1989, APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the US and Vietnam. The region accounts for 53 percent of the world's gross domestic product and 40 percent of population. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 A good thingy for OCEANIA = PACIFICA becuz To wit, * PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > AS [world] GLACIERS MELT, SCIENTISTS SEEK NEW DAT ON RISING SEAS [change of 2-1/2 to 6-1/2 feet by Year 2100, flooding = forcing underwater many a World landlubber coastal area]. E.g. GUAM = UMATAC CEMETERY IS SINKING [Slowly being lost to erosion vee storms, rising seas]. Both Village + Cemetery are histor important to Guam. A sea level change or rise of 3-7 feet by Year 2100 will fundamentally alter the Map(s) of Guam + other Lands. and * DEUTCH WELLE > [OpEd] CLIMATE CHANGE A CATALYST FOR NEW BEGINNING(s), for Humanity + World. RISE OF UNIVERSAL/GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCY. WHICH IS WHY, AMONG OTHER, THE TRAPPED CHILE MINERS IS IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE OF HOW THEY SOCIALIZED BETWEEN EACH OTHER WHILE TRAPPED = LIVING DEEP UNDERGROUND - "living underground" in turn also relates to why it is important for US-World = future OWG-NWO Perts to be correct as per their CLIMATE + SUN + RESOURCES + SPACE ROCK, ETC. MATH, MODELS. Lest we fergit, so-called "OWG-NWO" = means any ERRORS OR DEFECTS, in Math + Political Decision, Will etc., WILL HAVE DE FACTO WORLDWIDE CONSEQUENCES, DA "GLOBAL" IN GLOBAL OOOOPPPSIES + THINGS-THAT-CAN-GO-BOOM-BOOMS! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-11-15 02:35 |