The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) is an international economic organization created to develop integration ties between the countries of the Pacific basin. Currently, it unites the economies of 21 countries of various levels of development (Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong (special administrative region of China), Canada, People's Republic of China (PRC), Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru , Russia, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Taiwan, Chile, Philippines, South Korea, Japan).
APEC was founded in Canberra (Australia) on the initiative of Australian Prime Minister B. Hawke in 1989. Initially, 12 countries joined APEC - 6 developed countries of the Pacific Ocean (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, South Korea, Japan) and 6 developing states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines).
By 1997, APEC already included almost all the main countries of the Pacific region: Hong Kong (1993), China (1993), Mexico (1994), Papua New Guinea (1994), Taiwan (1993), Chile (1995) became new members. In 1998, simultaneously with the admission of three new members to APEC - Russia, Vietnam and Peru - a 10-year moratorium was introduced on further expansion of the membership of the Forum. India and Mongolia have applied for APEC membership.
It should be noted that APEC includes 19 countries and two special territories - Hong Kong (Xianggang, which is part of China) and Taiwan, so officially its members are not called APEC member countries, but APEC economies.
The creation of APEC was preceded by a long development in the 1960-1980s in the Asia-Pacific region of more local economic unions - ASEAN, the Pacific Economic Council, the Conference on Pacific Economic Cooperation, the South Pacific Forum, etc.? Back in 1965, the Japanese economist K. Kojima proposed the creation of a Pacific Free Trade Area with the participation of the industrialized countries of the region. The interaction process intensified in the 1980s, when the countries of the Far East began to demonstrate high and stable economic growth.
Initially, the supreme body of APEC was the annual meetings at the ministerial level. Since 1993, the main form of organizational activity of APEC has been the annual summits (informal meetings) of the leaders of the APEC countries, during which declarations are adopted summing up the Forum's activities for the year and determining the prospects for further activities. Sessions of the ministers of foreign affairs and the economy are held more frequently.
The objectives of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum were officially defined in 1991 in the Seoul Declaration. This is the provision of a free open trade regime in accordance with the norms of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and the strengthening of regional cooperation.
In 1994, the creation by 2020 in the Asia-Pacific region of a system of free and open trade and a liberal investment regime was announced as a strategic goal. The most developed countries should liberalize by 2010. Each country independently determines its status and the timing of the introduction of new regimes based on individual action plans.
APEC activity is being developed on the basis of predominantly informal mechanisms; it is developing in various directions. The main principles of work are:
Cooperation only in the economic sphere. From the very beginning, APEC saw itself not as a politically cohesive grouping of countries, but as a loose "collection of economies." The term "economy" emphasizes that this organization discusses economic, not political issues. The fact is that the PRC did not recognize the independent statehood of Hong Kong and Taiwan, therefore they were officially considered not countries, but territories (Taiwan still had such a status in the mid-2000s);
The almost complete absence of a special administrative apparatus. APEC is formed as a free consultative forum without any rigid organizational structure or large bureaucracy. The APEC Secretariat, located in Singapore, includes only 21 diplomats representing APEC member countries, as well as 20 local employees. The main working bodies of APEC are the Business Advisory Council, three committees of experts (committee on trade and investment, economic committee, administrative and budgetary committee) and 11 working groups in various sectors of the economy;
Rejection of coercion, the primacy of voluntariness. APEC is not an organization with law enforcement powers in conflict resolution (like the WTO, for example). On the contrary, APEC works only on the basis of consultation and consensus. The main driving stimulus is the positive examples of the "neighbors", the desire to follow them. APEC countries officially demonstrate adherence to the principle of open regionalism, which is usually interpreted as the freedom of choice by APEC members of specific mechanisms for trade liberalization;
Priority attention to information exchange. The main element of the process of interaction between APEC member countries is the open exchange of information. It can be said that the immediate goal of this economic association is not so much a single economic as a single information space. There is an exchange, first of all, of information about the business projects of the participating countries. The growth of information openness makes it possible for businessmen of each country to engage in entrepreneurial activities throughout the APEC territory;
Refusal of rigid planning of the prospects for the evolution of the Forum. At APEC conferences, the issue of creating the Asia-Pacific Economic Community, APEC (Asia-PacificEconomicCommunity) as a free trade and investment zone was repeatedly raised. However, the huge heterogeneity of the participating countries hinders the implementation of these plans. Therefore, even in the mid-2000s, APEC is more of a discussion forum that has some features of an integration association than such an association in the full sense of the word. The course towards the creation of APEC is fixed in a number of official documents (for example, in the Bogor Declaration of 1994 and the Manila Program of Action of 1996), but entry into APEC is scheduled only by 2010 for industrialized participating countries and by 2020 for developing countries. The implementation of this plan is by no means indisputable: in 1995, at the Osaka APEC summit, the date for the beginning of the formation of a free trade zone (January 1, 1997) was already named, but this decision was not implemented.
APEC began with a modest program of negotiations on the development of mutual trade. More than a dozen priority areas have already been identified at the APEC Osaka Summit:
trade rates;
non-tariff measures to regulate mutual trade;
international services;
international investments;
standardization of goods and services;
customs procedures;
intellectual property rights;
competition policy;
distribution of government orders;
rules concerning the origin of goods;
mediation in disputes;
business mobility;
implementation of the results of the Uruguay Round of WTO trade negotiations;
collection and analysis of information.
The most important direction is the activities aimed at stimulating mutual trade and foreign investment.
In an effort to create a free investment zone, the APEC countries are taking measures to stimulate the movement of capital between the countries of the region: they reduce the number of industries closed to foreign direct investment, simplify the visa regime for entrepreneurs, and provide wide access to economic information.
APEC activities are aimed at stimulating mutual trade and developing cooperation, in particular, in such areas as technical standards and certification, customs harmonization, development of raw materials industries, transport, energy, and small business.
It is assumed that by 2020, within the framework of APEC, the world's largest free trade zone without internal barriers and customs will be formed.
The recognized course of the Pacific economic organizations is the so-called open regionalism. Its essence is that the development of cooperation ties and the removal of restrictions on the movement of goods, labor resources and capital within a given region is combined with adherence to the principles of the WTO / GATT, the rejection of protectionism against other countries, and the stimulation of the development of extra-regional economic ties.
The strategic goal of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum is to create by 2020 in the Asia-Pacific region a system of free and open trade and a liberal investment regime. The APEC member countries are moving towards this goal by leaps and bounds, and Russia is one of the leaders on this path.
The current macroeconomic situation favors the development of export sectors of the Russian economy. We have already discussed with one of our experts, academician Andrey Spartak, the prospects for the markets of the Asia-Pacific region for our country. For almost 20 years, Russia has been a member of APEC, an international organization that brings together the leading countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Is this tool used to promote Russian exports and what are the prospects for this cooperation - in an interview with Tatyana Flegontova, director of the Russian APEC Research Center.
What is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and what is its role in the global economic system?
The APEC Forum was established in 1989 at the initiative of the Australian Prime Minister Hawke. Russia joined APEC in 1998 and in 2012 was its first and so far the only chairmanship. Today, APEC plays a rather serious role in the world economic system. At the end of last year, 64% of world GDP was accounted for by the joint GDP of the APEC economies, and the share of the APEC economies in the world trade turnover was 48%.
GDP and the share of Asia-Pacific countries in the global economy in 2000-2017 A source:What are the key features of APEC compared to other international organizations?
First, it is a club-type organization. Decisions taken in APEC are not binding, but nevertheless, it is important to note that they are made by consensus. The high probability of fulfilling the agreements of the economies is associated with the annual reporting on the achievements of the APEC economies and the image component. The results of countries' work at the technical level are discussed in the framework of summits at the end of the year.
Source: RIA Novosti
Secondly, APEC is one of the few venues where an open dialogue takes place between developed and developing countries. There are several key groups of economies or blocs that participate in APEC activities. This is the Anglo-Saxon bloc (Australia, USA, New Zealand, Canada) plus Japan, the leading Asian players are Japan, China, Russia and Korea. One can also distinguish a group of Asian tigers - in addition to Korea, this includes Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, ASEAN member states and South American economies - Mexico, Peru and Chile. Papua New Guinea stands apart, but its activities in APEC have been intensifying in recent years. Next year, all events will be held under the auspices of Papua New Guinea and on the territory of this country.
Source: Russian APEC Research Center
Often people talk about APEC only in terms of holding summits. Are there any other events taking place at the APEC site?
APEC is a structure that operates throughout the year, with three key clusters of working group meetings taking place, culminating in meetings of senior officials. A number of other meetings at various levels are being held. They are more technical in nature, but it is there that the bulk of the work of the APEC economies takes place. In addition, the Business Advisory Council is actively working and annual meetings of business representatives of the APEC economies are held.
Why is cooperation interesting for national economies?
The APEC platform may be of interest from the point of view of promoting the interests of national companies in the region. Firstly, within the framework of APEC, a large number of seminars and dialogues, studies and surveys are held both among representatives of the government structures of economies and business representatives. Databases and information resources are being formed that make it easier to obtain information about the regulation of the APEC economies, about how business operates in the APEC economies, how to integrate into international trade, international economic cooperation for business from the APEC economies.
Secondly, APEC is often a platform for testing certain decisions, and if successful, APEC recommendatory decisions are subsequently transferred to other platforms, for example, to the WTO platform, and there they already become binding. One can note a rather serious level of interaction between the APEC forum and the G20, the OECD, and a number of other forums and organizations.
Thirdly, some of the most discussed regional integration initiatives were formed precisely in the Asia-Pacific region or with the participation of the APEC economies. These are the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the Pacific Alliance. Despite the fact that in the past six months there has been a slight slowdown in these processes, nevertheless, the Asia-Pacific region remains a key one in terms of the development of regional trade and economic integration. Therefore, when forming and developing our initiatives, including the EAEU, the Greater Eurasia project, the project to interface the EAEU with the Chinese Silk Road Initiative, we need to take into account the ongoing integration processes in the Asia-Pacific region and join them.
Source: Russian APEC Research Center
What can business gain from participation in APEC?
The first, and probably the simplest option, is the search for partners and the exchange of experience. APEC is actively working towards the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, including a lot of forums and various exhibitions and fairs. Here you can show yourself and see people. For example, conduct campaigns to share best practices with business representatives from similar industries.
The second is the reduction of costs when entering foreign markets. Although the APEC recommendations are not binding, nevertheless, long-term work leads to the harmonization of a number of standards, to the reduction of tariff and non-tariff restrictions. And if business has long-term goals to enter and consolidate its own interests in a particular market in the Asia-Pacific region, then it should participate in the work of APEC.
The third is the promotion of their own developments. Issues of trade in certain goods, issues of technological cooperation, the formation of common new or harmonization of existing standards are discussed at the APEC platforms. The latter is especially important for innovative, high-tech goods, including digital goods, for many of which generally recognized technical standards have not yet been formed.
Source: Russian APEC Research Center
How actively does Russia participate in APEC?
The main peak of Russia's activity in APEC came in 2012, when Russia chaired it. The priorities of the year and key initiatives were formed thanks to Russian proposals.
What are the priorities and initiatives?
The first priority is trade liberalization. In particular, a list of environmental goods was formed, on which the economies agreed by the end of last year, and, by the way, have already reduced tariff restrictions to the level of 5% and below. Another priority was the formation of reliable supply chains. As part of this initiative, much attention was paid to the development of the Far East. Within the next priority, significant attention was paid to the promotion of food security. And, finally, it is innovative growth, innovative development.
Are these initiatives being developed today?
Sad as it may seem, but Russia's interest in working in APEC today has become much less. Nevertheless, to date, work on all the tracks that have been started continues - the initiatives that Russia puts forward today often originate precisely from the 2012 presidency.
The second block of questions is the development of human capital. Here I would like to note the work that is being done in the field of cooperation in higher education. For example, a conference on higher education is held annually in Vladivostok. This year it will be devoted to the issue of recognition of diplomas and qualifications in the APEC region. Work is also underway to ensure a culture of prevention in labor protection. This year, a trial APEC conference on this topic was held at the VNOT (All-Russian Week of Occupational Safety and Health) site, and next year it is planned to hold a high-level event, that is, at the level of ministers and deputy ministers. Of great importance is the work of APEC to support innovative competitive SMEs and stimulate their inclusion in international trade. The main direction of work is the formation of an information database (APEC MarketPlace), which provides complete information to small and medium-sized enterprises necessary for entering the markets of the APEC economies. Russia is actively participating in this, offering its own directions and developments.
The third block of issues that Russia is actively promoting in APEC is the implementation of structural reforms and ensuring innovative growth. This year, Russia put forward several initiatives and projects that were successfully adopted and supported by the APEC economies.
VTsIOM poll data prepared for the APEC summit. Source: VTsIOM
What are these initiatives?
First, there are initiatives to develop innovative clusters and technological markets of the future. They are being developed jointly with the Higher School of Economics, it is planned to connect ASI and RVC. We also actively involve businesses in these areas.
Secondly, it is a comprehensive initiative for the development of remote regions of the APEC economies. This is due to the task of promoting the interests of the Russian Far East, however, the initiative was supported by China, Indonesia, and a number of other countries that have their own interesting developments in the development of remote regions. Already in August of this year, a corresponding conference at the level of senior officials on this issue will be held. Based on the results of this work, it is planned to form a comprehensive APEC strategic plan on this issue.
Recently, there have been major changes in the world economy and trade, including those related to the development of new technologies. Are they somehow reflected in the discussions in APEC? Are there any new issues that have not been discussed before?
Yes, of course, discussions are changing. If earlier the key issue was regional economic integration, the traditional reduction of tariff barriers, now the key issues are, firstly, innovative development, and here Russia, as I said, is promoting a number of interesting initiatives and projects. Secondly, it is the development of the digital economy, which is also fundamentally important for Russia. This year, it is planned to form a common APEC roadmap for the development of the digital economy.
Can you tell us more about the ideas behind such a map?
To begin with, we are talking about the development of physical infrastructure, that is, the provision of universal access to the Internet. Here we are talking not only about the availability of broadband Internet throughout the APEC economies, but also about its availability.
The second set of issues is to ensure the creation of a regulatory framework that must be formed for the development of the digital economy. To date, none of the APEC economies has comprehensive legislation in this area. There are separate laws that relate to personal data, digital signatures, electronic document management, and other issues.
The third block of questions concerns the security of the Internet system and the digital economy as a whole. This is one of the key areas, because "big data" is an incentive for growth, a kind of currency of the modern economy, while it is necessary to ensure proper protection of this data at different levels. The role of the state in this case is of fundamental importance.
The fourth block is the formation of an inclusive digital economy. Here again the question arises of remote regions, and small and medium-sized enterprises, and ensuring access to digital technologies for persons with disabilities.
It is also important to note the need to support the development of appropriate technologies.
A separate issue is the formation of tools for the statistical assessment of the digital economy.
What about e-commerce?
E-commerce is a separate area of APEC work. Vietnam is chairing APEC this year, and on its initiative, a framework agreement is being developed to develop e-commerce in the APEC economies.
The content of the article
ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION FORUM (APEC)(Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) is an international economic organization created to develop integration ties between the countries of the Pacific basin. Currently, it unites the economies of 21 countries of various levels of development (Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong (special administrative region of China), Canada, People's Republic of China (PRC), Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru , Russia, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Taiwan, Chile, Philippines, South Korea, Japan).
History of APEC.
Founded in Canberra (Australia) on the initiative of Australian Prime Minister B. Hawke in 1989. Initially, it included 12 countries - 6 developed countries of the Pacific Ocean (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, South Korea, Japan) and 6 Developing States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand). By 1997, APEC already included almost all the main countries of the Pacific region: Hong Kong (1993), China (1993), Mexico (1994), Papua New Guinea (1994), Taiwan (1993), Chile (1995) became new members. In 1998, simultaneously with the admission of three new members to APEC - Russia, Vietnam and Peru - a 10-year moratorium was introduced on further expansion of the membership of the Forum. India and Mongolia have applied for APEC membership.
The creation of APEC was preceded by a long development in the 1960s-1980s in the Asia-Pacific region of more local economic unions - ASEAN, the Pacific Economic Council, the Conference on Pacific Economic Cooperation, the South Pacific Forum, etc. Back in 1965, the Japanese economist K. Kojima proposed the creation of a Pacific Free Trade Area with the participation of the industrialized countries of the region. The interaction process intensified in the 1980s, when the countries of the Far East began to demonstrate high and stable economic growth.
The objectives of the Forum were formally defined in 1991 in the Seoul Declaration. This:
– supporting the economic growth of the countries of the region;
– strengthening mutual trade;
– elimination of restrictions on the movement of goods, services and capital between countries in accordance with the GATT / WTO rules ( cm. WTO).
In the mid-2000s, more than 1/3 of the world's population lived in APEC member countries, they produced about 60% of world GDP and conducted about 50% of world trade. This organization has become one of the three (along with the EU and NAFTA) the most influential integration blocs in the modern world economy ( cm. ECONOMIC INTEGRATION).
Although APEC is the youngest of the "three" largest economic integration blocs, it has already become an important vehicle for promoting trade and economic cooperation in the region. The APEC economic zone is the most dynamically developing on a global scale; it is predicted to play the role of the main leader of the world economy in the 21st century.
Features of APEC as a regional integration bloc.
APEC includes countries with very different levels of economic development (Table 1). For example, the per capita rates of the United States and Papua New Guinea differ by three orders of magnitude.
| Table 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF APEC MEMBERS IN 2000 | ||||
| Country | Territory (thousand sq. km) | Population (million people) | GDP (billion dollars) | GDP per capita (thousand dollars) |
| Australia | 7,682 | 18,5 | 395 | 20,8 |
| Brunei | 5,8 | 0,3 | 4 | 13,6 |
| Vietnam | 331 | 77,6 | 29 | 0,4 |
| Hong Kong | 1,1 | 6,7 | 159 | 23,2 |
| Indonesia | 1,904 | 206,3 | 141 | 0,7 |
| Canada | 9,971 | 30,6 | 645 | 21,1 |
| PRC | 9,561 | 1,255,7 | 991 | 0,8 |
| Malaysia | 33 | 21,4 | 79 | 3,5 |
| Mexico | 1.973 | 95,8 | 484 | 5,0 |
| New Zealand | 271 | 3,8 | 54 | 14,3 |
| Papua New Guinea | 463 | 4,6 | 4 | 0,8 |
| Peru | 1,285 | 24,8 | 57 | 2,3 |
| South Korea | 99 | 46,1 | 407 | 8,7 |
| Russia | 17,075 | 147,4 | 185 | 1,3 |
| Singapore | 0,6 | 3,5 | 85 | 21,8 |
| USA | 9,373 | 274 | 9,299 | 34,1 |
| Taiwan | 36 | 21,9 | 289 | 13,1 |
| Thailand | 513 | 60,3 | 24 | 2,0 |
| Philippines | 300 | 72,9 | 77 | 1,0 |
| Chile | 757 | 14,8 | 67 | 4,5 |
| Japan | 378 | 126,3 | 4,349 | 34,4 |
| Total | 62,012,5 | 2,513,73 | 17,924 | |
| Share in world indicators, % | 41,6 | 40,0 | 60,0 | |
| . M., MGIMO, ROSSPEN, 2002 | ||||
For the interaction of very heterogeneous APEC member countries, mechanisms have been developed that are much less formalized than the rules of the EU and NAFTA.
1) Cooperation only in the economic sphere.
From the very beginning, APEC saw itself not as a politically cohesive grouping of countries, but as a loose "collection of economies." The term "economy" emphasizes that this organization discusses economic, not political issues. The fact is that the PRC did not recognize the independent statehood of Hong Kong and Taiwan, therefore they were officially considered not countries, but territories (Taiwan still had such a status in the mid-2000s).
2) The almost complete absence of a special administrative apparatus.
APEC is formed as a free consultative forum without any rigid organizational structure or large bureaucracy. The APEC Secretariat, located in Singapore, includes only 23 diplomats representing APEC member countries, as well as 20 local employees. Since 1993, the main form of organizational activity of the Forum has been the annual summits (informal meetings) of the leaders of the APEC countries, during which declarations are adopted summing up the Forum's activities for the year and determining the prospects for further activities. Meetings of the ministers of foreign affairs and foreign trade of the participating countries are held more often. The main working bodies of APEC are the Business Advisory Council, three committees of experts (committee on trade and investment, economic committee, administrative and budgetary committee) and 11 working groups in various sectors of the economy.
3) Rejection of coercion, the primacy of voluntariness.
APEC is not an organization with law enforcement powers in conflict resolution (like the WTO, for example). On the contrary, APEC works only on the basis of consultation and consensus. The main driving stimulus is the positive examples of the "neighbors", the desire to follow them. The APEC countries officially demonstrate their adherence to the principle of open regionalism, which is usually interpreted as the freedom of APEC members to choose specific mechanisms for trade liberalization.
4) Priority attention to information exchange.
The main element of the process of interaction between APEC member countries is the open exchange of information. It can be said that the immediate goal of this economic association is not so much a single economic as a single information space. There is an exchange, first of all, of information about the business projects of the participating countries. The growth of information openness makes it possible for businessmen from each of the countries to engage in entrepreneurial activities throughout the APEC territory.
5) Rejection of rigid planning of the prospects for the evolution of the Forum.
At APEC conferences, the issue of creating the Asia-Pacific Economic Community, APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Community) as a free trade and investment zone was repeatedly raised. However, the huge heterogeneity of the participating countries hinders the implementation of these plans. Therefore, even in the mid-2000s, APEC is more of a discussion forum that has some features of an integration association than such an association in the full sense of the word. The course towards the creation of APEC is fixed in a number of official documents (for example, in the Bogor Declaration of 1994 and the Manila Program of Action of 1996), but entry into APEC is scheduled only by 2010 for industrialized participating countries and by 2020 for developing countries. The implementation of this plan is by no means indisputable: in 1995, at the Osaka APEC summit, the date for the beginning of the formation of a free trade zone (January 1, 1997) was already named, but this decision was not implemented.
APEC members believe that economic integration requires the active involvement of business in the activities of the organization. In 1995, APEC leaders decided to formalize relations with the business community and created the Business Advisory Council (BCA) (APEC Business Advisory Council). It has become one of the key working bodies through which the Forum interacts with APEC business circles.
Each participating country appoints up to three representatives to the ABAC, representing the interests of various circles of national business. Most APEC countries reserve one of their seats in the ABAC for small or medium-sized businesses, since such enterprises play a key role in all APEC countries.
At the annual APEC summits, the ABAC presents to the economic leaders of the Forum a report with generalized recommendations from competent representatives of the private sector on the implementation of APEC program documents. These recommendations are developed by members of the ABAC with the assistance of experts from government agencies.
The main recommendations are related to the simplification of visa formalities for businessmen of the APEC economies, the reduction of barriers to goods and investments. In accordance with the recommendations of the ABAC, the official website of APEC on the Internet contains information on the problems of business development in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) - the investment and financial situation in the APEC countries, tariffs, etc. Thus, we can talk about the creation within the framework of APEC of a mechanism for constant intensive exchange of information between the participants of the Forum on Entrepreneurship.
Recognizing the particularly important role of small and medium-sized enterprises in all national economies, in February 2001 the Forum participants decided to create a special ABAC group on small and medium-sized businesses. Her areas of focus are: working to improve the access of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to financial resources, information and communication technologies; strengthening the interaction of SMEs with representatives of the state administration.
The ABAC Task Force on Finance is engaged in the implementation of financial standards acceptable to the international community, strengthening the international financial system. She also studies the development of domestic capital markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ABAC Technology Task Force is working to boost e-commerce by developing actions to bridge the digital divide between APEC economies.
Practical results of APEC activity.
Although APEC's activities are based primarily on informal mechanisms, they are developing in breadth and depth.
APEC began with a modest program of negotiations on the development of mutual trade. At the Osaka Summit, APEC countries identified more than a dozen priority areas of activity:
trade rates;
non-tariff measures to regulate mutual trade;
international services;
international investments;
standardization of goods and services;
customs procedures;
intellectual property rights;
competition policy;
distribution of government orders;
rules concerning the origin of goods;
mediation in disputes;
business mobility;
implementation of the results of the Uruguay Round of WTO trade negotiations;
collection and analysis of information.
The most important direction is the activities aimed at stimulating mutual trade and foreign investment.
Already in the first decade, the APEC countries managed to achieve a strong reduction in customs duties, although their differentiation continues to persist (Table 2). At the same time, other non-tariff protectionist barriers (quantitative restrictions on exports and imports, difficulties in import and export licensing, export subsidies, etc.) are also decreasing. As a result, for example, the annual growth rate of exports of the APEC countries in 1995-2000 was 4.7%, while in other countries of the world - only 3.0%.
| Table 2. AVERAGE RATES OF CUSTOMS DUTIES IN SOME APEC COUNTRIES | ||
| Country | 1988 | 1996 |
| Australia | 15,6 | 6,1 |
| Indonesia | 20,3 | 13,1 |
| Canada | 9,1 | 6,7 |
| China | 40,3 | 23,0 |
| Mexico | 10,6 | 12,5 |
| South Korea | 19,2 | 7,9 |
| Singapore | 0,4 | 0 |
| USA | 6,6 | 6,4 |
| Thailand | 40,8 | 17,0 |
| Taiwan | 12,6 | 8,6 |
| Japan | 7,2 | 7,9 |
| Average in APEC | 15,4 | 9,1 |
| Compiled by: Kostyunina G.M. Asia-Pacific Economic Integration. M., MGIMO, ROSSPEN, 2002 | ||
In an effort to create a free investment zone, the APEC countries are taking measures to stimulate the movement of capital between the countries of the region: they reduce the number of industries closed to foreign direct investment, simplify the visa regime for entrepreneurs, and provide wide access to economic information. Since there is no principle of obligation in the APEC documents, different member countries implement these measures with different intensity. However, in general, in the APEC countries only in the 1990s, the volume of attracted foreign direct investment increased 3 times.
Although the APEC countries were hit hard by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the region is experiencing record economic growth. So, for 1989-1999 the total GNP of the member countries grew by 1/3 - by 26% in developed countries and by 83% in developing countries of the region. This is significantly higher than the global figures (24% for developed and 11% for developing countries).
Russia's participation in APEC.
Russia is interested in developing relations with APEC, since they account for about 20% of Russian foreign trade and about 25% of accumulated foreign investment in the Russian Federation. Therefore, already in March 1995, by order of the President of the Russian Federation, an application was submitted to join the Forum; in 1998, at the Vancouver summit, Russia was admitted to APEC as a full member.
In November 1998, on the initiative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the APEC Business Club was formed - an informal association of representatives of Russian business circles, focused in their activities on the Asia-Pacific region. It includes more than 50 large Russian firms and banks.
The first important event in Russia within the framework of the APEC Forum was the ABAC meeting held in Moscow in May 2001, which was attended by about 100 representatives of the business elite of the APEC countries.
Unfortunately, even in the mid-2000s, the ties of most APEC member countries with Russia are rather weak, they lack information about our country and its business circles. Experts believe that one of the main reasons for this negative situation is the insufficient activity of Russian representatives in the APEC ABAC, their weak relationship with Russian government departments and business circles.
A step towards enhancing the participation of the Russian Federation in APEC was the development of the state concept of Russia's participation in the Forum, which was outlined by the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin during the next APEC summit in Bangkok in October 2003. In his speech, he said that “Russia's course towards the further development of comprehensive cooperation with the Asia-Pacific countries is our conscious choice. It was made due to the growing interdependence of the world ... and due to the fact that this region has become one of the most dynamically developing today. At the 13th APEC summit in Puson in November 2005, it was proposed to consider joint work in the energy sector and, in the political sphere, the fight against terrorism as a priority area of economic cooperation between Russia and the APEC countries.
Yuri Latov, Dmitry Preobrazhensky
The content of the article
ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION FORUM (APEC)(Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) is an international economic organization created to develop integration ties between the countries of the Pacific basin. Currently, it unites the economies of 21 countries of various levels of development (Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, Hong Kong (special administrative region of China), Canada, People's Republic of China (PRC), Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru , Russia, Singapore, USA, Thailand, Taiwan, Chile, Philippines, South Korea, Japan).
History of APEC.
Founded in Canberra (Australia) on the initiative of Australian Prime Minister B. Hawke in 1989. Initially, it included 12 countries - 6 developed countries of the Pacific Ocean (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, USA, South Korea, Japan) and 6 Developing States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand). By 1997, APEC already included almost all the main countries of the Pacific region: Hong Kong (1993), China (1993), Mexico (1994), Papua New Guinea (1994), Taiwan (1993), Chile (1995) became new members. In 1998, simultaneously with the admission of three new members to APEC - Russia, Vietnam and Peru - a 10-year moratorium was introduced on further expansion of the membership of the Forum. India and Mongolia have applied for APEC membership.
The creation of APEC was preceded by a long development in the 1960s-1980s in the Asia-Pacific region of more local economic unions - ASEAN, the Pacific Economic Council, the Conference on Pacific Economic Cooperation, the South Pacific Forum, etc. Back in 1965, the Japanese economist K. Kojima proposed the creation of a Pacific Free Trade Area with the participation of the industrialized countries of the region. The interaction process intensified in the 1980s, when the countries of the Far East began to demonstrate high and stable economic growth.
The objectives of the Forum were formally defined in 1991 in the Seoul Declaration. This:
– supporting the economic growth of the countries of the region;
– strengthening mutual trade;
– elimination of restrictions on the movement of goods, services and capital between countries in accordance with the GATT / WTO rules ( cm. WTO).
In the mid-2000s, more than 1/3 of the world's population lived in APEC member countries, they produced about 60% of world GDP and conducted about 50% of world trade. This organization has become one of the three (along with the EU and NAFTA) the most influential integration blocs in the modern world economy ( cm. ECONOMIC INTEGRATION).
Although APEC is the youngest of the "three" largest economic integration blocs, it has already become an important vehicle for promoting trade and economic cooperation in the region. The APEC economic zone is the most dynamically developing on a global scale; it is predicted to play the role of the main leader of the world economy in the 21st century.
Features of APEC as a regional integration bloc.
APEC includes countries with very different levels of economic development (Table 1). For example, the per capita rates of the United States and Papua New Guinea differ by three orders of magnitude.
| Table 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF APEC MEMBERS IN 2000 | ||||
| Country | Territory (thousand sq. km) | Population (million people) | GDP (billion dollars) | GDP per capita (thousand dollars) |
| Australia | 7,682 | 18,5 | 395 | 20,8 |
| Brunei | 5,8 | 0,3 | 4 | 13,6 |
| Vietnam | 331 | 77,6 | 29 | 0,4 |
| Hong Kong | 1,1 | 6,7 | 159 | 23,2 |
| Indonesia | 1,904 | 206,3 | 141 | 0,7 |
| Canada | 9,971 | 30,6 | 645 | 21,1 |
| PRC | 9,561 | 1,255,7 | 991 | 0,8 |
| Malaysia | 33 | 21,4 | 79 | 3,5 |
| Mexico | 1.973 | 95,8 | 484 | 5,0 |
| New Zealand | 271 | 3,8 | 54 | 14,3 |
| Papua New Guinea | 463 | 4,6 | 4 | 0,8 |
| Peru | 1,285 | 24,8 | 57 | 2,3 |
| South Korea | 99 | 46,1 | 407 | 8,7 |
| Russia | 17,075 | 147,4 | 185 | 1,3 |
| Singapore | 0,6 | 3,5 | 85 | 21,8 |
| USA | 9,373 | 274 | 9,299 | 34,1 |
| Taiwan | 36 | 21,9 | 289 | 13,1 |
| Thailand | 513 | 60,3 | 24 | 2,0 |
| Philippines | 300 | 72,9 | 77 | 1,0 |
| Chile | 757 | 14,8 | 67 | 4,5 |
| Japan | 378 | 126,3 | 4,349 | 34,4 |
| Total | 62,012,5 | 2,513,73 | 17,924 | |
| Share in world indicators, % | 41,6 | 40,0 | 60,0 | |
| . M., MGIMO, ROSSPEN, 2002 | ||||
For the interaction of very heterogeneous APEC member countries, mechanisms have been developed that are much less formalized than the rules of the EU and NAFTA.
1) Cooperation only in the economic sphere.
From the very beginning, APEC saw itself not as a politically cohesive grouping of countries, but as a loose "collection of economies." The term "economy" emphasizes that this organization discusses economic, not political issues. The fact is that the PRC did not recognize the independent statehood of Hong Kong and Taiwan, therefore they were officially considered not countries, but territories (Taiwan still had such a status in the mid-2000s).
2) The almost complete absence of a special administrative apparatus.
APEC is formed as a free consultative forum without any rigid organizational structure or large bureaucracy. The APEC Secretariat, located in Singapore, includes only 23 diplomats representing APEC member countries, as well as 20 local employees. Since 1993, the main form of organizational activity of the Forum has been the annual summits (informal meetings) of the leaders of the APEC countries, during which declarations are adopted summing up the Forum's activities for the year and determining the prospects for further activities. Meetings of the ministers of foreign affairs and foreign trade of the participating countries are held more often. The main working bodies of APEC are the Business Advisory Council, three committees of experts (committee on trade and investment, economic committee, administrative and budgetary committee) and 11 working groups in various sectors of the economy.
3) Rejection of coercion, the primacy of voluntariness.
APEC is not an organization with law enforcement powers in conflict resolution (like the WTO, for example). On the contrary, APEC works only on the basis of consultation and consensus. The main driving stimulus is the positive examples of the "neighbors", the desire to follow them. The APEC countries officially demonstrate their adherence to the principle of open regionalism, which is usually interpreted as the freedom of APEC members to choose specific mechanisms for trade liberalization.
4) Priority attention to information exchange.
The main element of the process of interaction between APEC member countries is the open exchange of information. It can be said that the immediate goal of this economic association is not so much a single economic as a single information space. There is an exchange, first of all, of information about the business projects of the participating countries. The growth of information openness makes it possible for businessmen from each of the countries to engage in entrepreneurial activities throughout the APEC territory.
5) Rejection of rigid planning of the prospects for the evolution of the Forum.
At APEC conferences, the issue of creating the Asia-Pacific Economic Community, APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Community) as a free trade and investment zone was repeatedly raised. However, the huge heterogeneity of the participating countries hinders the implementation of these plans. Therefore, even in the mid-2000s, APEC is more of a discussion forum that has some features of an integration association than such an association in the full sense of the word. The course towards the creation of APEC is fixed in a number of official documents (for example, in the Bogor Declaration of 1994 and the Manila Program of Action of 1996), but entry into APEC is scheduled only by 2010 for industrialized participating countries and by 2020 for developing countries. The implementation of this plan is by no means indisputable: in 1995, at the Osaka APEC summit, the date for the beginning of the formation of a free trade zone (January 1, 1997) was already named, but this decision was not implemented.
APEC members believe that economic integration requires the active involvement of business in the activities of the organization. In 1995, APEC leaders decided to formalize relations with the business community and created the Business Advisory Council (BCA) (APEC Business Advisory Council). It has become one of the key working bodies through which the Forum interacts with APEC business circles.
Each participating country appoints up to three representatives to the ABAC, representing the interests of various circles of national business. Most APEC countries reserve one of their seats in the ABAC for small or medium-sized businesses, since such enterprises play a key role in all APEC countries.
At the annual APEC summits, the ABAC presents to the economic leaders of the Forum a report with generalized recommendations from competent representatives of the private sector on the implementation of APEC program documents. These recommendations are developed by members of the ABAC with the assistance of experts from government agencies.
The main recommendations are related to the simplification of visa formalities for businessmen of the APEC economies, the reduction of barriers to goods and investments. In accordance with the recommendations of the ABAC, the official website of APEC on the Internet contains information on the problems of business development in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) - the investment and financial situation in the APEC countries, tariffs, etc. Thus, we can talk about the creation within the framework of APEC of a mechanism for constant intensive exchange of information between the participants of the Forum on Entrepreneurship.
Recognizing the particularly important role of small and medium-sized enterprises in all national economies, in February 2001 the Forum participants decided to create a special ABAC group on small and medium-sized businesses. Her areas of focus are: working to improve the access of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to financial resources, information and communication technologies; strengthening the interaction of SMEs with representatives of the state administration.
The ABAC Task Force on Finance is engaged in the implementation of financial standards acceptable to the international community, strengthening the international financial system. She also studies the development of domestic capital markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ABAC Technology Task Force is working to boost e-commerce by developing actions to bridge the digital divide between APEC economies.
Practical results of APEC activity.
Although APEC's activities are based primarily on informal mechanisms, they are developing in breadth and depth.
APEC began with a modest program of negotiations on the development of mutual trade. At the Osaka Summit, APEC countries identified more than a dozen priority areas of activity:
trade rates;
non-tariff measures to regulate mutual trade;
international services;
international investments;
standardization of goods and services;
customs procedures;
intellectual property rights;
competition policy;
distribution of government orders;
rules concerning the origin of goods;
mediation in disputes;
business mobility;
implementation of the results of the Uruguay Round of WTO trade negotiations;
collection and analysis of information.
The most important direction is the activities aimed at stimulating mutual trade and foreign investment.
Already in the first decade, the APEC countries managed to achieve a strong reduction in customs duties, although their differentiation continues to persist (Table 2). At the same time, other non-tariff protectionist barriers (quantitative restrictions on exports and imports, difficulties in import and export licensing, export subsidies, etc.) are also decreasing. As a result, for example, the annual growth rate of exports of the APEC countries in 1995-2000 was 4.7%, while in other countries of the world - only 3.0%.
| Table 2. AVERAGE RATES OF CUSTOMS DUTIES IN SOME APEC COUNTRIES | ||
| Country | 1988 | 1996 |
| Australia | 15,6 | 6,1 |
| Indonesia | 20,3 | 13,1 |
| Canada | 9,1 | 6,7 |
| China | 40,3 | 23,0 |
| Mexico | 10,6 | 12,5 |
| South Korea | 19,2 | 7,9 |
| Singapore | 0,4 | 0 |
| USA | 6,6 | 6,4 |
| Thailand | 40,8 | 17,0 |
| Taiwan | 12,6 | 8,6 |
| Japan | 7,2 | 7,9 |
| Average in APEC | 15,4 | 9,1 |
| Compiled by: Kostyunina G.M. Asia-Pacific Economic Integration. M., MGIMO, ROSSPEN, 2002 | ||
In an effort to create a free investment zone, the APEC countries are taking measures to stimulate the movement of capital between the countries of the region: they reduce the number of industries closed to foreign direct investment, simplify the visa regime for entrepreneurs, and provide wide access to economic information. Since there is no principle of obligation in the APEC documents, different member countries implement these measures with different intensity. However, in general, in the APEC countries only in the 1990s, the volume of attracted foreign direct investment increased 3 times.
Although the APEC countries were hit hard by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the region is experiencing record economic growth. So, for 1989-1999 the total GNP of the member countries grew by 1/3 - by 26% in developed countries and by 83% in developing countries of the region. This is significantly higher than the global figures (24% for developed and 11% for developing countries).
Russia's participation in APEC.
Russia is interested in developing relations with APEC, since they account for about 20% of Russian foreign trade and about 25% of accumulated foreign investment in the Russian Federation. Therefore, already in March 1995, by order of the President of the Russian Federation, an application was submitted to join the Forum; in 1998, at the Vancouver summit, Russia was admitted to APEC as a full member.
In November 1998, on the initiative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the APEC Business Club was formed - an informal association of representatives of Russian business circles, focused in their activities on the Asia-Pacific region. It includes more than 50 large Russian firms and banks.
The first important event in Russia within the framework of the APEC Forum was the ABAC meeting held in Moscow in May 2001, which was attended by about 100 representatives of the business elite of the APEC countries.
Unfortunately, even in the mid-2000s, the ties of most APEC member countries with Russia are rather weak, they lack information about our country and its business circles. Experts believe that one of the main reasons for this negative situation is the insufficient activity of Russian representatives in the APEC ABAC, their weak relationship with Russian government departments and business circles.
A step towards enhancing the participation of the Russian Federation in APEC was the development of the state concept of Russia's participation in the Forum, which was outlined by the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin during the next APEC summit in Bangkok in October 2003. In his speech, he said that “Russia's course towards the further development of comprehensive cooperation with the Asia-Pacific countries is our conscious choice. It was made due to the growing interdependence of the world ... and due to the fact that this region has become one of the most dynamically developing today. At the 13th APEC summit in Puson in November 2005, it was proposed to consider joint work in the energy sector and, in the political sphere, the fight against terrorism as a priority area of economic cooperation between Russia and the APEC countries.
Yuri Latov, Dmitry Preobrazhensky
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Books
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