By Monica Whaley
APEC Leaders discussing the Bogor Goals in Yokohama, Japan during APEC 2010. Source: Gobierno de Chile’s flickr photostream, used under a creative commons license.
In early October, Indonesia will host the 21st gathering of APEC Economic Leaders – heads of the 21 APEC Economies – which span from Vladivostok to Tasmania, and from Tierra del Fuego to the Aleutians. Indonesia itself mirrors APEC in many ways – in its richness of natural and human resources, its desire for investment, and above all the critical need for connections to ensure continued economic growth.
As Indonesia’s government prepares to welcome APEC Leaders to Bali, recall the last time this important economy served as APEC Chair and articulated a vision which has guided APEC for the last 20 years: “free and open trade and investment in the region by 2010 (for developed economies) and 2020 (for developing economies)” — the Bogor Goals. Since then APEC has built on that foundation toward its overarching vision of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific. Indonesia’s leadership in 2013 is taking some important steps toward realizing those visions.
Starting June 22, APEC’s senior officials will meet in Medan, Indonesia, for their final preparatory session before the Leaders’ Meeting in Bali. Several key areas of work will reach their final stages of development: work on Good Regulatory Practices to drive regulatory coherence in the region; further development of the Innovation and Trade policies launched under the U.S. APEC chairmanship in 2011; the drafting of a road map for food security in the Asia-Pacific region; and many others. In early September, Indonesia will also host ministerial and high-level meetings on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Women and the Economy, Health, and Finance. All of these gatherings are aimed at developing Indonesia’s key themes:
- Attaining the Bogor Goals
- Promoting Connectivity;
- Achieving sustainable growth with equity
In particular the theme of connectivity touches upon APEC’s greatest needs and opportunities. Through its work here, Indonesia seeks to bridge of the enormous physical spaces between APEC economies through supply chains, trade lanes, pipelines, bandwidth, air routes, bridges and other physical infrastructure; it aims to promote people-to-people connectivity to drive advances in education and help the region better respond to natural disasters; and it aims to enhance connectivity between institutions to promote common approaches to improve economic competitiveness through structural reform.
The foundation that Indonesia lays for APEC’s future this fall is one that is sure to be built upon by APEC’s next chairs – China in 2014, the Philippines in 2015 and Peru in 2016. Under the thoughtful leadership of these economies, APEC can continue to move ever closer to fulfilling its vision of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific: a seamless 21st century commercial environment in which diverse, broad and robust connections enable dynamic flows of goods and services, information and ideas, capital and people in a thriving and peaceful Asia-Pacific.
Ms. Monica Hardy Whaley is the President of the National Center for APEC. The APEC CEO Summit will take place in Bali, Indonesia from October 5-7, 2013. Read more by this author here.
