APEC to play major role in shaping FTAAP

Earlier, Regional Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP), which groups the 10 ASEAN nations, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India, just ended another round of negotiation in Brisbane, Australia.

At the East Asia summit held in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia last year, its 16 members announced the start of negotiations, which cover such areas as trade of goods and service, and investment protection. They set the goal of reaching an agreement by 2015, which coincides with the deadline for ASEAN Economic Community.

Once established, the RCEP, with a population of 3.4 billion and 30 percent of the global economy, will become the largest free trade area in the world.

The future development of these major free trade negotiations will have direct impact on Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific(FTAAP), a proposed mechanism for regional economic integration and long-term economic growth in Asia and Pacific and other multilateral trading systems for that matter.

Parties at TPP negotiations are also APEC members, the same is true of participants of RCEP. It is important that these free trade negotiations integrate with rather than undercut each other, and APEC is expected to play a major coordinating role in this regard.

Just as APEC members stressed in the joint statement of the Ministerial Meeting, APEC should continue to excise strong leadership, and play a major role in providing intellectual support, enhancing transparency and sharing of information and promoting capacity building.

Professor Keichi Umada from Kyorin University said that multilateral free trade negotiations, either TPP or RCEP, have to complement with APEC for the ultimate goal of establishing a free trade area.