Free trade hurry-up

By Yoke Har Lee

The Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) yesterday released its formal report to Apec governments, criticising the slow progress made in members' individual plans to pursue their free trade agendas.

It also set out an ambitious plan to push leaders to free up trade in the food sector ahead of a 2010/20 deadline set five years ago in Bogor, Indonesia..

And while the media was more intent on scrutinising the relevance of ABAC's report against the problems besetting Apec, this year's chair of ABAC, Philip Burdon, was firm in maintaining this notion: that Apec's businessmen have a unanimous consensus that the Bogor declaration to have free trade in developed economies by 2010 and 2020 for developing ones, was "a responsible ambition". He said "yes" to questions about whether ABAC's recommendations would be endorsed by Apec leaders while Fran Wilde, the other New Zealand government-appointee sitting on ABAC (the third being Douglas Myers) said "we would like them to".

Mr Myers said while there has been criticism that Apec and even ABAC had lost their way, New Zealand had brought back a sense of decision and focus.

Mr Burdon said business had signed off on the idea that trade liberalisation remained the best way to improve people's well being.

Fran Wilde, heading the comprehensive Apec Food System work in New Zealand, said it would be a signal to the politicians that perhaps forestry and fishery would not be "hard basket cases" at all.