SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG KIANG
MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE CONFERENCE DINNER FOR THE
Pacific Economic Cooperation
Council (PECC) Conference on “Economic Crisis and Recovery:
Enhancing Resilience, Structural Reform, and Freer Trade in the
Asia-Pacific Region”, 9 OCTOBER, 1900 HOURS, ORCHARD HOTEL,
BALLROOM 1
Mr Jusuf Wanandi,
Co-chair, PECC
Assoc Prof Tan Khee
Giap, Chair, SINPECC
Amb Ong Keng Yong,
Director, IPS
PECC
members,
Ladies
and gentlemen
It is my pleasure to join you for dinner. Let me first
extend a warm welcome to all of you, especially to our overseas
friends who have come to Singapore to attend this
conference.
The global economic situation has eased since the
financial crisis started about a year back. Leading indicators are
looking up, and the IMF recently lifted its forecast for global GDP
growth in 2010 to around 3%. But it is too early to take our eyes
off the economy – it will be a bumpy ride, fraught with risks.At
the same time, we should now start to look at howto retool our
economies to position ourselves for new growth opportunities in the
post-crisis landscape.
The issue of how to re-position the Asia-Pacific
economies for new growth paradigms has been a preoccupation in the
APEC meetings that Singapore has been chairing this year. It will
occupy our Leaders’ minds when they gather in Singapore next month
for the Summit.It cannot be “growth-as-usual” going forward.
We must start to gradually unwind the global macro
imbalances, which were at the root of the crisis. We must spread
the benefits of growth more broadly across all segments of society,
so as to maintain the consensus for globalisation. We must start
steering our growth paths onto a low-carbon trajectory, to mitigate
the risks of climate change and leave a sustainable future for the
next generation. At the same time, APEC economies must remain
firmly committed to promoting free trade as the key engine of
growth to uplift all segments of society.
Since its
founding 20 years ago, APEC’s steadfast efforts to keeping pushing
for open markets and free trade has made a tremendous contribution
to boosting growth and prosperity in the region. For instance,
through unilateral liberalisation by economies, average tariff
rates in the Asia-Pacific fell by two-thirds during the first 15
years of APEC’s existence – from 17% in 1989 to 5.5% in
2004. Intra-APEC merchandise trade has grown five-fold - from US$1.7
trillion in 1989 to US$8.4 trillion in
2007.
The question
before us is what to push for next, given the already low existing
tariff rates.Indeed, because tariff rates in the Asia-Pacific are already
relatively low, the marginal benefits of further reduction in such
barriers are likely to diminish.
This is why APEC is focusing on the next
wave of economic integration -dealing with the practical,
behind-the-border obstacles faced by businesses so that they can
draw fuller benefits from open markets.
There are three key thrusts along which
APEC can make contributions toward this next wave of trade
policy-related reforms.
ØFirst,
making FTAs more business-friendly.
ØSecond, making regional supply chains smoother and more
efficient.
ØThird,
improving the business and regulatory
environment.
Let me
elaborate.
First, on making FTAs more business-friendly.
Since the late
1990s, the Asia-Pacific has been at the forefront of trade
liberalisation, with a fast-growing network of bilateral and
regional FTAs. In 2000, there were only three concluded FTAs in
Asia. In just nine years, the number has risen to 54. This trend
has helped bring tariffs down and boosted
trade.
However,
the flipside of the spread of FTAs is that it has led to
more diverse and complex rules of origin (ROOs). This has raised
the cost of compliance for business that want to make use of the
FTAs.
Indeed, in APEC’s consultations with
businesses, both importers and exporters have drawn
attention to the tedious processes related to the use of
ROO-related documents.Many highlighted the tedious layers of
information required for application and authentication of such
documents, and in general, the huge workload involved.Obviously, if
the costs associated with administering rules of origin are too
high, then that undermines the benefits derived from the
FTAs.Cumbersome ROOs
would lead to the under-utilisation of FTAs. A recent ADB survey
among 609 firms in the East Asian region[1]
found that only 22% take advantage of
FTAs.
APEC has therefore been focusing on simplifying the
procedures and documentation related to ROOs. We want to help
maximise the potential gains from these FTAs, so that more
businesses and consumers in the Asia Pacific can enjoy the
benefits of lower materials costs and more affordable
products.
Second,
making regional supply chains smoother and more efficient.
The decentralisation
of global production networks, more complex customer demands, and
the shortening of product life cycles have made it increasingly
important for businesses to be able to move goods in a predictable,
timely, and cost-effective way.
Achieving smoother and more efficient regional supply
chains can help businesses to better tap the growing opportunities
in the Asia-Pacific, and for the region to more fully realise the
opportunities from trade and investment liberalisation. The
potential gains for the region from enhanced connectivity are
significant. In a study conducted by the Australian Centre of
International Economics (CIE), it was found that a 10 percent rise
in efficiency in supply chain connectivity could lead to an
increase of US$21 billion dollars per year in combined APEC
GDP[2]. In another study, it was found that each additional day
of delay for a good prior to being shipped reduces trade by at
least one per cent[3].
Hence,
APEC embarked on a Supply Chain Connectivity initiative
early this year to identify and address key chokepoints in the
regional supply chain. This could include, for instance,
improving and forging
closer links for all forms of transport networks from land, air and
sea so that shipments can move smoothly and quickly, to
simplifying customs procedures so that exports do not incur costly
delays. APEChas identified several of these chokepoints and we
look forward to completing the exercise by year-end, along with
proposed actions for economies to work together to address them in
future.
Third, to improve the business environment in the
region.We want to enhance the business environment by focusing on
regulatory reform to make it easier, faster and cheaper to do
business in the region. This means, for instance, shortening the
time needed to get a licence or streamlining procedures to start a
business. Reforms on areas that impact the daily operations of
business could make the Asia-Pacific an even more attractive
investment destination and encourage greater cross-border
trade.
This year, Singapore is leading an APEC initiative to
identify key regulatory areas for reform and five areas of interest
to the business community have since been identified. They are: a)
starting a business; b) getting credit; c) trading across borders;
d) enforcing contracts; and e) getting
permits.
The next step is to set APEC-wide targets for all the
five areas so that we can measure progress. We are also working
together to design reform programmes led by “champion economies”
with strengths in each of the areas. APEC economies are
well-positioned to collectively push for more improvement in the
business environment. Nine of the APEC economies are among the top
20 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings in 2010. The
approach is to leverage on one other’s strengths to help all the
APEC economies move up. We look forward to announcing more details
on the targets and reform programmes at the upcoming APEC
ministerial meeting in November.
This next wave
of reforms will not be easy to implement and will take time.
Compared to cutting tariffs, they are also administratively and
technically more complex, and require an economy to have the
capacity, determination and will to implement the necessary
changes.
APEC’s
traditional strengths of building capacity through the sharing of
experiences and best practices will be a plus in this next wave of
trade reforms.Because APEC is voluntary and non-binding, its unique pathfinder
approach enables smaller groups of like-minded economies ready and
willing to undertake reforms to go ahead first, allowing others to
join in later when they are ready.
With APEC’s strong
commitment to regional economic integration and a flexible approach
that facilitates reform, I am confident that APEC will continue to
stay at the forefront of trade and investment liberalisation in the
next 20 years.
In conclusion, I want to thank the organisers of this
conference for arranging an excellent and comprehensive programme
that aims to tackle the important issues that policy-makers need to
think hard about regarding the post-crisis economic landscape. I
wish you all fruitful conversations and a productive exchange of
views. We also look forward to tapping your ideas to further
advance APEC’s agenda for this new
landscape.
Thank you.
[1]
Kawai, M. and Wignaraja, G., Asian FTAs: Trends
and Challenges, ADBI Working Paper Series, No. 144, August
2009
[2]
“Supply Chain Connectivity Across APEC:
Identifying and Prioritizing Chokepoints”, The Centre for International Economics, May
2009.
[3] Djankov, S., Freund, C.
& Pham, “Trading on Time”, World Bank Working Paper No. 35379,
Jan 2006.