STRAITS TIMES – 11 Nov 2009
By Ignatius Low & Jeremy Au
PM Lee greeting ministers and delegates at the reception last night. - ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
TWENTY years ago, a group of 12 economies went against the grain, deciding to band together and commit to free trade.
Now, in a pivotal moment in economic history, the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) must once again take the lead in breaking down trade barriers and helping global businesses.
That was Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s call to his fellow Apec ministers, as he welcomed them to the Apec talks taking place here this week. Evoking memories of the past and the notion of family, Mr Lee, dressed casually in an open- necked red shirt, addressed the dark-suited crowd at an official reception last night.
‘We have some special guests with us, old friends who were involved in the formation and early development of Apec,’ he said with a smile.
‘For example, Bob Hawke, who was prime minister when Australia convened the first Apec meeting in Canberra, which (Foreign) Minister George Yeo and I were privileged to attend 20 years ago.
‘From his wise and imaginative initiative, Apec has taken root and grown, and hence we are here today.’
Mr Lee paid tribute to Apec’s efforts these past two decades.
‘Our work helped to keep markets open, brought our economies closer, and contributed to the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round,’ he noted.
The Uruguay Round of trade talks was the last major breakthrough in freeing up world trade. Settled in 1994, it led to a major reduction in tariffs worldwide.
As if to echo Mr Lee’s point, Apec leaders of the past two decades smiled from old photos hung on the walls of the banquet hall on the sixth floor of the Suntec City Convention Centre. The mini-exhibition, poignantly titled ‘Family Portraits 1989-2008′, features the full set of traditional group photos that Apec leaders had taken at the end of every annual meeting.
In the photos, the heads of Apec economies, all garbed in special costumes prepared by the hosts, linked hands in a symbolic gesture of unity.
‘This 20th anniversary is a good time to re-energise Apec and re-commit ourselves to its work,’ concluded Mr Lee, as he reminded the audience of the task ahead of them this week.
‘(Our meeting) takes place at a pivotal moment, when the world economy is emerging from the global financial crisis,’ he added.
‘While the situation has stabilised, the economic outlook remains uncertain. Much still needs to be done to sustain the economic recovery and also to prepare for the post-crisis landscape.’
After the reception, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told The Straits Times that it was especially important that the grouping did not lapse or regress now, in the aftermath of a global financial crisis.
‘The Apec conference now is crucial because it can solidify the various efforts at the global level, at regional level.
‘Hopefully we can speak in the same single voice in terms of the need to maintain economic stimulus and open trade.’
Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Malaysia’s former international trade minister, said Apec had achieved a lot, whatever critics said.
‘Now is a good time to re-energise and to market Apec, and tell people what we’ve done because people do not understand it,’ she said. ‘They think it is a talk shop. It is not…We should tell everybody, Apec has been successful.’
Senior officials from the 21 Apec economies have been meeting since Sunday to hammer out concrete initiatives to foster growth and integrate the region’s economies. The grouping’s trade, finance and foreign ministers will mull over them in the next two days, before a final meeting of the heads of government wraps up the proceedings over the weekend.
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Ignatius Low and Jeremy Au are the money editor and political correspondent for the Straits Times respectively.
