NZ pumps Apec to flex its muscle

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN in BRUNEI

New Zealand is in the vanguard of a push by business interests to put some muscle back into Apec.

Philip Burdon, in his last year as chairman of New Zealand's three-person Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) team, will today make the point that Apec will lose its relevance to business unless political leaders meeting in Brunei put some spine back into their action agendas.

The former National Trade Minister, along with fellow team-members Fran Wilde, Trade NZ chief executive, and Doug Myers, Lion Nathan chairman, is widely respected within ABAC circles for his insistence that Apec not lose its focus on trade liberalisation in favour of narrow, although less politically risky, progress on capacity building throughout the 21 member countries.

In Apec-speak, capacity building has become synonymous with sharing resources to help all members of society take part in the benefits of globalisation. But the business sector widely sees it as a soft option compared with the benefits offered by trade liberalisation.

Bringing rising oil prices under control, a renewed commitment to restarting the failed WTO Seattle trade talks, globalisation, financial instability in Southeast Asia and the digital divide will all figure heavily on the agenda for the political leaders' meeting, which starts today.

But business leaders - whose own forum started yesterday - want political leaders to get back to basics.

Mr Burdon will take the floor, alongside some heavy-hitters from the corporate sector, during a session questioning if Apec is relevant to business.

A New Zealand initiative to develop an agenda to improve corporate governance within the Asia-Pacific region will also be unveiled today.

Apec 2000 is President Bill Clinton's swansong in the Asia-Pacific Rim forum that he helped instigate eight years ago.

The Clinton legacy has not lived up to Apec's early promise to liberalise trade and investment for developed economies within the region by 2010 - with full liberalisation by 2020.

Mr Clinton failed to display leadership on his home turf, instead pandering to special interests who wanted to protect segments of the economy. He thus undermined any ability the US had to push Japan to adopt a sectoral approach to liberalisation within Apec.

Partly out of frustration with slow progress within Apec and the propensity for the WTO to become bogged down in litigation, New Zealand has shifted gear, aiming to negotiate regional free-trade pacts.

The bilateral agreement between Singapore and New Zealand is first off the block. Prime Minister Helen Clark and her team are also talking to Chile.

New Zealand is not alone. Singapore is exploring similar agreements with Canada, Japan and South Korea. Japan is also talking with several countries.

While the bilateral moves may act as a spur to get Apec back on track, there is a danger that they will compromise Apec's goals by not going far enough down the free-market track.

The proposed Singapore-Japan agreement is considered to fit this category as Tokyo is still not prepared to liberalise its agriculture sector.

Critics say too many bilateral agreements will make Apec a dead letter.

Tomorrow: Where's the business summit going?

Herald Online feature: Apec