On Thursday 12 November 2009, the concluding day of the 21st APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Singapore, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and his APEC ministerial colleagues took decisions on APEC’s future course of action, details as follows.
- On addressing the crisis and preparing for recovery, Ministers endorsed the Senior Officials’ Report on Inclusive Growth which targets action in four areas, namely, fostering SME development, enabling labor market flexibilities, building sustained economic security for all, and designing incentive-compatible social safety nets. APEC will develop a multiyear work program on inclusive growth in 2010.
- On support for the multilateral trading system — Ministers noted with some concern that there continues to be slippage towards the use of trade restrictive and trade remedy measures despite APEC member economies standstill commitment in 2009.
- On Trade and Investment Liberalization and Facilitation, Ministers launched the Ease of Doing Business Action Plan, endorsing its aspirational collective target of making doing business 25 percent faster and cheaper by 2015 and by at least 5 percent by 2011. Ministers also endorsed the multiyear APEC Regional Economic Integration (REI) work program/matrix, updated for 2010 and 2011 which sets priorities and serves as a monitoring tool for APEC’s work in this area.
- Ministers acknowledged that assessing the achievement of the Bogor Goal of free and open trade and investment by 2010 by developed APEC member economies would be a key area of work in 2010 and endorsed the work program for carrying out this work. In this regard, Japan as APEC 2010 host economy, working with the APEC Secretariat and APEC’s stakeholders will prepare an assessment report for consideration at the first Senior Officials Meeting in 2010, the Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting and the year-end APEC Ministerial and Economic Leaders’ Meetings.
- On Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH), Foreign Minister Kasit thanked all contributors to APEC’s 90 ECOTECH projects for implementation in 2010. In view of the wide-ranging activities, he emphasized the need for even more prioritization, coordination and concrete outcomes. He also urged member economies to utilize facilities already existing in the region for such projects. Thailand is of course a co-sponsor of many APEC projects over the years. The Minister also instructed Thai officials to make additional efforts to disseminate the knowledge-base arising out of APEC projects to Thai stakeholders in the Thai language.
- On human security, Ministers discussed and reaffirmed the importance APEC continues to attach to counter-terrorism and secure trade, health, food security, anti-corruption, and emergency preparedness issues. Minister Kasit shared Thailand’s dual approach of offering Thailand’s rice production as food security for the world at large while also turning agricultural production to biofuels so as to reduce its own reliance on imported fossil fuels. He noted that the East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve (EAERR) could serve as a good example using other commodities for APEC’s enhanced food security. Foreign Minister Kasit also stressed that corruption affects every fabric of society. Thailand pledges to overcome corruption and is willing to learn more from others.
Ministers adopted a Joint Ministerial Statement at the conclusion of the meeting.
After the conclusion of the 21st AMM, Foreign Minister Kasit met with his counterparts from Papua New Guinea (Hon. Samuel Abal) and Colombia (H.E. Mr. Jaime Berm?dez Merizalde) to touch base on bilateral political and economic issues of mutual interest. With Papua New Guinea, Minister Kasit emphasized Thailand’s interest in hastening progress on the pending bilateral investment treaty as well as intensifying ties in the area of fisheries and timber. With Colombia, he expressed support for Colombia’s interest in joining APEC as soon as possible.
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