A Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) will be held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, June 1-2, 2006.

Canada in APEC - Background Information

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum includes twenty-one members that differ substantially in their political systems, social and cultural institutions, and level of economic development: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong-China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States and Vietnam.

APEC is the only trans-Pacific forum dedicated to intergovernmental economic cooperation. Its members account for 57% of world GDP, 45% of world population, and 50% of world trade. APEC encourages positive and constructive dialogue among its members, with a focus on achieving free and open trade in the region as well as equitable opportunity and shared prosperity, while responding and adapting to changes in the global and regional economy.APEC’s year-round activities culminate in an annual APEC Summit. This year, the APEC Summit will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam. As APEC 2006 host, Vietnam has selected the following theme to guide discussion throughout the year: “Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity.”

Canada’s APEC priorities for the year are:

1. To advance key Canadian trade policy interests including progress in the Doha Round, our regional trade policy objectives, and making the Asia-Pacific region more accessible to Canadian businesses through trade facilitation, transparency and anti-corruption.

2. To enhance security in the Asia-Pacific region by expanding adherence to counterterrorism agreements, capacity building, enhancing health security and infectious diseases strategies, and promoting human security, including emergency preparedness.

3. To promote private sector development in Asia-Pacific by supporting policy measures that benefit small, medium and micro-enterprises, strengthening legal infrastructure in developing economies, and narrowing the digital divide.

1. TRADE
Because of the diversity and economic importance of its membership, APEC is a valuable forum for Canada to promote its trade agenda, including our overriding trade policy priority of successfully concluding the Doha Round of WTO negotiations.
Canada is at the forefront of APEC’s activities to help developing economies participate fully in WTO negotiations, including identifying their interests beforehand and implementing agreements afterwards. Along with Japan, Canada co-chairs APEC’s WTO Capacity Building Group, through which the organization coordinates capacity building projects. Canada sponsored a training course on multi-stakeholder trade policy consultations which took place in March 2006 in Vietnam. Finally, CIDA’s $9 million “APEC Economic Integration Program” is providing trade-related capacity building assistance to four APEC members (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) and two non-member economies (Cambodia and Laos). It focuses on agriculture, services and trade facilitation. Canada will also use APEC to promote the interests of Canadian businesses active in the Asia-Pacific region. Trade facilitation measures to simplify import-export procedures, transparency measures to make rules, regulations and decision-making processes clearer, and anti-corruption
initiatives, all help Canadian exporters and investors. This year marks the conclusion of APEC’s 2002 Trade Facilitation Action Plan, which will have lowered transaction costs in the region by at least 5% over five years. Canada was a leading force in the implementation of this Action Plan and will push for APEC to continue its trade facilitation progress once the Action Plan is completed.

2. SECURITY

Canada is an important player on the APEC Counter-Terrorism Task Force (CTTF), where APEC members share their experiences and present their counter-terrorism capacity building needs. Canada will use its new Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building program to provide training, funding, equipment, technical and legal assistance to developing economies to enable them to prevent and respond to terrorist activity in a manner consistent with international human rights norms, standards and obligations. We will also press for the implementation of existing APEC counter-terrorism commitments. In the area of health security, the APEC Health Task Force addresses health-related threats to economies’ trade and security with a focus on emerging infectious diseases. Canada is the chair of the APEC Health Task Force for 2006-2007. Following the APEC initiative on Preparing for and Mitigating an Influenza Pandemic endorsed at the 2005 Summit, Canada will be working closely with a number of APEC economies on initiatives to build the region’s capacity to prepare, prevent, and respond to an influenza pandemic. For example, Canada organized a pandemic preparedness risk communications workshop in Vietnam in early May. The Health Task Force will also pursue activities to strengthen APEC members’ ability to respond to HIV/AIDS. In December 2005, Canada organized a workshop on HIV/AIDS and Migrant/Mobile Workers in the Philippines. As a follow-up to this workshop and another APEC HIV/AIDS initiative organized by Thailand, Canada will be working with the APEC Business Advisory Council and other stakeholders to develop guidelines for creating an enabling environment for employers to implement effective workplace practices for people living with
HIV/AIDS.

3. PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT

In 2005 Canada and New Zealand obtained the agreement of APEC Leaders to develop a private sector development agenda within APEC in order to improve the business environment in the region. As a result, Canada and New Zealand are jointly hosting a symposium on Private Sector Development, to be held in Montreal in May 2006. Private sector development is a key strategy to alleviate poverty, and thus contributes not only to development but also to political and economic stability, with direct long-term implications for Canadian security and prosperity. Many of the areas of work described above, including WTO capacity building, trade facilitation, transparency, and anti-corruption, have the capacity to contribute to private sector development in the region. To ensure they have the maximum effect possible, and that their benefits extend to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and women owned
businesses, we are seeking to make their private-sector development dimensions more
explicit. Canada is also working to increase high-level political commitment and awareness regarding private sector development among APEC region governments.
To promote private sector development within APEC, Canada is currently working on the following projects:
1. Workshop to raise awareness of the impact of corruption on small businesses, and
generate a set of recommendations for APEC work in this area
2. Training course to emphasize the importance of consulting with non-traditional stakeholders such as associations of small businesses and women entrepreneurs
3. Research project to document public and private sector best practices in e-trade
finance -- a key tool for helping small businesses participate in international markets
4. Workshops on broadband for remote and indigenous communities, and e-inclusion
for people with disabilities, to promote connection to markets, a core mechanism for
private sector development
5. Following up on the 2004 Canadian APEC project “Supporting Potential Women
Exporters” to help women-owned businesses and SMEs participate in international
trade
6. Workshops on incorporation and bankruptcy laws to strengthen APEC members’
legal infrastructures

As I will attend a conference in a few month , as a representative of the civil society, I would like to have the feedbacks of Youth. What do young people think about APEC, how is participation in the decision-making process. Please give your comment and I’ll be there to represent you VOICE!

Thanks