Capacity Building for the New International Architecture in Trade and Investment
From APEC HRDWG Wiki
“Capacity Building for the New International Architecture in Trade and Investment” is an APEC activity aimed at promoting understanding of emerging trends in international trade and, consequently, the need for increased technical capacity among stakeholders.
In the first phase of the project, an international symposium entitled, “WTO at 10 – Dispute Settlement, Multilateral Negotiation, Regional Integration” convened in October 2005 at the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan. The focus of this meeting was to review the achievement of WTO over the course of the previous decade and to identify the issues of the current WTO negotiations and the prospect of increased use of FTAs/RTAs worldwide. Following the event, an experts’ workshop was held in Hawaii in October 2006 to further discussions initiated at the symposium and to more specifically identify the current status of FTAs/RTAs negotiations, trends, and strategies among selected APEC members.
APEC has collected papers from nine experts from member economies to address the distinctive situations of FTA/RTA negotiations in their own economies as well as shared issues arising from the complex set of multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements. Results of the discussions held at the symposium were summarized in the project report, available below.
In context to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
An important objective of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is to liberalize trade and investment among members for sustainable development in the region. APEC promotes trade liberalization through its voluntary Individual Action Plan (IAP) for each member economy. APEC has also supported negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, due to stalled WTO negotiations, many APEC members have shifted their attention from the WTO-based multilateral framework to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), and Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), which offer new options for international trade and investment. Accordingly, it is essential to understand the role and nature of FTAs/RTAs, which will be essential for parties involved in trade negotiations and analysis, particularly the business sector.
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Economy |
Summary |
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The New International Architecture in Trade and Investment: Current Status and Implications |
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Complete report from the APEC Project: The New International Architecture in Trade and Investment. Includes a preface, synthesis, economy reports (available individually below), and issue papers relating to the project. |
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Canada (Charles A. Barrett) |
Canada’s approach to trade policy shifted from multi-lateral liberalization under General agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT), to a dual track approach with both bilateral and multilateral elements. Topics include: | |
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China ( Henry Gao) |
With the signing of the CEPA with Hong Kong, China, on 30 June 2003, China adopted RTA. As of 1 September 2006, China has signed or is negotiating RTAs with trade partners such as Hong Kong, China; Macau, China; Chile; Pakistan; Australia; New Zealand; ASEAN; Iceland; India and Gulf Cooperation Council Topics covered in this paper include: | |
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Japan (Takashi Iwamoto ) |
In the near future Japan will face decreasing population due to a very low birthrate. It has become a crucial issue whether Japan will be able to sustain its social and economic structure. This paper considers whether Japan should plan with EPA partners for personnel exchanges to prepare for a future crisis. As many economies are now making more efforts to promote FTAs and RTAs.
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Korea (Dukgeun Ahn) |
Korea’s economy previously relied upon foreign export markets. It has been traditionally
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Malaysia (M. Supperamaniam) |
The emergence of Regional Trading Arrangements (RTAs) and the Free Trade Areas (FTAs)
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Chinese Taipei’s (Chaw-Hsia) |
Chinese Taipei, in its process of economic development has benefited from a liberalized multilateral trade system. Although Chinese Taipei was not a signatory to Topics include: [n] | |
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Thailand (Lawan Thanadsillapaku) |
In recent years, the global trading system has become much more liberalized and the world economies have become increasingly integrated. this is due not only to rounds of trade negotiations under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which have resulted in the progressive liberalization of both traditional and new sectors, but also the establishment of regional trading arrangements and free trade agreements, or RTAs and FTAs. Thailand, like many other countries, will encounter difficulties and obstacles in restructuring and adjustment processes to keep pace with the rapid changes of the more open trading environment. With adjustments, there can be considerable gains, provided that the FTA texts are elaborated and mutually agreed based on bargaining power. Topics include: [n] | |
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US-ASEAN Free Trade Agreements in the Context of Emerging East Asian Regionalism |
US-ASEAN (Seiji Naya) |
US trade policy had traditionally focused on multilateral liberalization, rather than bilateral or Topics include |
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“A MEGA JUMBO-JET”: Southeast Asia’s Experiments with Trade and Investment Liberalization |
ASEAN (C.L. LIM) |
This paper discusses trade design and legal doctrine. It describes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Area, current efforts towards building an ASEAN Economic Community, and ASEAN’s move toward building a “mega jumbo jet,” with ASEAN as the fuselage, East Asia as one wing and South Asia the other through a Topics include |
This publication is a compilation of the papers from the APEC working groups at the Hawaii and Bangkok workshops, and is intended to enhance understanding of the current status, issues and implications of regional agreements which may form a new international architecture for a liberalized regime.
