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Countries of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will be considering a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) at a forthcoming summit in Sydney on September 8-9, 2007.
Existing bilateral and free trade agreements in the region will be combined to create the new FTAAP, according to a draft report of policy recommendations that senior officials have compiled for presentation at the summit.
“An FTAAP could make a considerable contribution to economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region,” says the draft report, titled ‘Strengthening Regional Economic Integration'.
As part of exploring the feasibility of an FTAAP, the report recommends that APEC economies:
- Develop a demonstrate chapter on trade facilitation which builds on model measures.
- Intensify efforts to strengthen financial markets and improve financial market integration within the region.
- Address domestic structural policies and systems that pose barriers to deepening and developing financial markets through capacity-building and information-sharing.
- Examine the possibility of further liberalising air transport markets in the APEC region, and improving port efficiency.
- Launch an initiative to simplify patent application procedures and step up cooperation in patent screening in the region.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.
August 24, 2007
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