Business can shape agenda at Apec

By Rod Oram

CHRISTCHURCH - The Government yesterday kicked off its efforts to make Apec more relevant to business by outlining an open market theme for delegates to discuss at Apec' s small and medium enterprise meeting here today and tomorrow.

"I believe there is real opportunity this week for business to help shape the agenda," Prime Minister Jenny Shipley told the business and government delegates at the opening ceremony.

"We hope the discussions you hold at this ministerial meeting will help build political consensus around the benefits of transparent competition and regulatory frameworks, improved public and private sector governance arrangements, and better legal frameworks for business," Mrs Shipley said.

In contrast to previous Apec meetings chaired by other members, which have given much less emphasis to small business, Wellington has developed an agenda for this one which stresses the large role the sector plays for all Apec economies.

Wellington has also taken a different tack by emphasising the benefits of competition and a conducive environment whereas past Apec meetings have tended to look at how to develop the small business sector through direct government intervention, a senior New Zealand official said.

The mood has swung towards more open internal markets, at least among reformers in many Apec countries, he added. As a result, this small business meeting had attracted ministers from 17 Apec economies whereas its equivalent last year in Kuala Lumpur had a narrower agenda which attracted ministers from only six.

"We've not pre-cooked the meeting", the official said. "We hope there will be much more dialogue with business and much more policy discussion than past meetings."

The current optimism of officials about the prospects for the meeting is in sharp contrast to an earlier view of Treasury. In an internal document brought to light by the Official Information Act and reported in yesterday's Business Herald, it expressed concern that the meeting would not be worth the cost of organising because the views expressed by some delegates could be contrary to New Zealand's open market philosophy.

A business delegates forum today will discuss four broad topics:

* Strengthening capital markets.

* Reducing trade barriers and compliance costs.

* Improving education for business.

* Dealing with the effects of Asia's financial crisis.

The business forum delegates will then work tomorrow with Apec ministers and officials involved in small and medium enterprise issues to produce a communique of policy initiatives.