There's more to it than discussing trade policy

By Matthew O'Meagher

The most important international event this country has hosted since 1840, the Apec conference continues to struggle for public support. As Aucklanders question the goals which Apec promotes, and contemplate the disruption to their lives the event will cause, they are still wondering what good hosting the Apec conference will do them.

Much of the problem in welcoming the event occurs because Apec's supporters, critics and participants all concentrate on the free-trade goal that dominates its agenda.

Although Apec's champions argue that freer trade has led to cheaper imports and money remaining in householders' pockets, opponents retort that these gains are offset by the prescription charges, education fees and job insecurity which have occurred as part of the neoliberal agenda Apec legitimses.

Ongoing trade liberalisation is not the only side to Apec, however, and nor will we be enduring traffic jams and other inconveniences solely on its behalf. If we look to these other dimensions, we find Apec has benefited and can benefit this country in real ways.

As a small and isolated country, New Zealand has few ways of shaping world events which directly affect it. Beyond the South Pacific and the Commonwealth, our voice is not strong internationally, no matter how passionately it is raised by the public or politicians.

In Apec, however, New Zealand has a voice which is respected by its neighbours, with whom our economic future lies. In the past 10 years, Apec has given New Zealanders an opportunity we would not otherwise have nejoyed to shape our region.

As hosts of Apec, furthermore, New Zealanders have a unique opportunity to interest our visitors in those causes that directly determine our standard of living. If Auckland was not hosting Apec, there would be no state visit by Bill Clinton and no opportunity to show the President how unhappy we are when he sacrifices trade gains Apec has already encouraged for his own short-term interests.

More importantly, by hosting Apec we can steer that organisation's attention to the trade sector which now and in the future matters most to us: all food exports. Any progress which occurs in facilitating our exports of these products arises precisely out of talkfests such as Apec in Auckland, not out of thin air.

Even if it proves unable to stimulate trade, participation in Apec or in a close equivalent of it would still be in our interests. Apec offers a regular, non-threatening environment for some of the world's largest economies and most heavily armed nations to meet, and our future depends on them getting along.

As much as the formal talks and conference trade communiques, the meetings in the bars and hotel lobbies of Auckland between these countries' delegates and business leaders on subjects not on the formal agenda will shape whether our part of the world develops peacefully in the next 12 months or not.

In that regard, the most important gathering associated with Apec may not be the leaders' meeting at all, but rather the presidential summit between the leaders of the United States and China.

If Auckland can be a venue for relations between the present and potential world superpowers to warm up the recent chill in their relations, Apec 99 will have played a positive role in bringing peace, security and prosperity to all the people of the Asia-Pacific, New Zealanders included.

Because it is a relatively loose international organisation, Apec has shown it has the potential to adapt in ways to meet the needs of its region. Even if its leaders' way of encouraging more support for its goals consists mostly of preaching about Apec's virtues rather than listening to the public's complaints, the sense of shared regional interests it creates has already helped its members respond to the Asian economic crisis by emphasising issues of financial strength and accountability, economic and technical cooperation and the social costs of economic crisis more than they did before 1997.

In spite of the fact that Apec-related meetings are still dominated by politicians, bureaucrats and business interests, the troubles Apec has recently had in advancing its hitherto-smooth free trade agenda may in fact be the organisation's salvation - or the path towards a replacement which maintains trust in a troubled region but which is more ideologically flexible.

Not only is there a new spirit of self-criticism and humility among some of Apec's leading officials, there is also growing attention among the scholarly community attached to Apec study centres in its member countries to how unique cultural identities and the rights of workers, women and indigenous peoples can be guaranteed in Apec-style processes of economic integration. Few of us surely can oppose such developments.

As we fume in motorway snarl-ups and are baffled by pontifications on trade, we should not forget that Apec has real advantages for New Zealanders. The more we interact in Apec-style gatherings with our neighbours in Asia, North America, South America and the South Pacific, finally the more we will be able to learn how to trade with them, and the more we will learn how to appreciate cultural diversity both in our region and in our own land.

• Dr Matthew O'Meagher lectures in the history department at the University of Auckland.