Asia-Pacific business leaders from the
APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), meeting virtually this week, called on
the region’s Trade Ministers to take the lead in a
credible, relevant and strengthened World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the face
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Globally, we face significant health and
economic challenges. Fundamentally
trade can and must be at the centre of tackling both the immediate crisis and
of laying the groundwork for a return to growth. The WTO is core to that effort,” said ABAC
Chair Dato’ Rohana Tan Sri Mahmood of Malaysia.
Dato Rohana explained that ABAC had issued
a statement of support for a reformed WTO ahead of the meeting of APEC
Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) taking place on 25 July. She said that ABAC had been deeply concerned
at the levels of human suffering and severe economic contraction caused by the
pandemic.
“Our message to Ministers is that global
problems demand global solutions – and the WTO’s multilateral rules-based
system must be at the heart of those solutions,” said Dato Rohana. “We are
calling on APEC economies to lead a process of reform in the WTO to ensure that
trade rules remain fit-for-purpose.”
She said that we need to liberalise trade
in essential medical supplies and facilitate the movement of essential workers,
so that for this and any future pandemics, those critical products and services
can get to where they are needed most. Likewise, APEC economies should reaffirm
their commitment to well-functioning agriculture markets, so that we do not add
a food security crisis to the disruption of the pandemic.
“We also need to ensure that the WTO’s
rules remain relevant and credible. It
is imperative that we get the WTO’s dispute settlement system fully functioning
again by appointing new members to the Appellate Body. We need more transparency around what
economies are doing on trade. We must
complete the unfinished business of the Doha Round, including by eliminating
fisheries subsidies, making meaningful cuts to trade-distorting domestic
support in agriculture and helping services and investment to work better,” she
added.
Dato Rohana said that just as importantly, the WTO needed to stay responsive to modern business and social concerns. There is a need to review the rules in other areas to ensure that they are doing the job. The rules must also be updated for the digital age and support aspirations for sustainable and inclusive growth. That means substantive outcomes on e-commerce and a permanent moratorium on Customs duties on electronic transmission, tools to transition to a low-carbon economy by eliminating inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and better ways for women and small businesses to succeed in trade.
Attachment: ABAC
Statement on the World Trade Organisation (WTO)
__________________________________________________________________________
APEC Member Economies: Australia; Brunei
Darussalam; Canada; Chile; China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea;
Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Russia;
Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; and Viet Nam.
ABAC was created by APEC Leaders in 1995 to be
the primary voice of business in APEC. Each economy has three members who are
appointed by their respective Leaders. They meet four times a year in
preparation for the presentation of their recommendations to the Leaders in a
dialogue that is a key event in the annual Leaders Meeting.
Under Malaysia’s leadership, ABAC is pursuing a work program under the
theme “Integration. Innovation. Inclusion.” to respond to the challenge of
maintaining the economic vitality of the Asia-Pacific Region and ensure it
benefits all.
ABAC 2020 Chair is Dato Rohana Mahmood and the Co-Chairs are Richard von
Appen (Chile) and Rachel Taulelei (New Zealand), with five (5) working group
chairs, namely: Sir Rod Eddington, Regional Economic Integration Working Group
(REIWG); Nobuhide Hayashi, Finance & Economics Working Group (FEWG); Hafimi
Abdul Haadi, MSME & Entrepreneurship Working Group (MSMEEWG); Ning Gaoning,
Sustainable Development Working Group; and Peggy Johnson, Digital & Innovation
Working Group (DIWG)
For further information please contact:
Mr. Syazwan Zainal, ABAC Malaysia Centre, Tel: +60 12 261 9959, Email: syazwan@abacmalaysia.org.my
Mr. Antonio
Basilio, Director, ABAC Secretariat, Tel: (63 2) 8845 4564, Email:
abacsec@pfgc.ph