ASEAN Fears Diktat on Pacific Pact
International Herald Tribune
October 9, 1993
Michael Richardson   

Ahead of high-level meetings next month to shape an Asia-Pacific economic community, several Southeast Asian ministers expressed concern Friday about plans for closer regional integration that have been advanced by several developed Pacific Rim countries.

Analysts said that the concerns almost certainly would result in a slowing down of plans for liberalization of trade, investment and services in the Pacific favored by the United States, Australia and Canada, and the institutional arrangements needed to bring this about.

The ministers warned at a meeting here of the Association of South East Asian Nations that unless the six-nation grouping asserted control, smaller Pacific states, including those in ASEAN, might find themselves in a position where major powers could dictate the terms of future trade and economic cooperation in the region.

The reservations voiced by the ministers with responsibility for trade and economic affairs in ASEAN are unlikely to block the holding of a first-ever summit meeting of leaders of the 15 members of APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The six ASEAN nations - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei - are key members of APEC.

The informal summit meeting, initiated by President Bill Clinton, is set to take place in Seattle after ministers from APEC hold their annual meeting there Nov. 17-18.

Most APEC leaders have agreed to attend. Apart from the ASEAN countries, the other nine members of the grouping are the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

ASEAN sources said that Washington had tried to get the approval of other APEC members for a binding agreement to lower tariff and nontariff barriers in the Pacific. But that was vetoed by ASEAN countries.

Instead, senior officials from APEC countries meeting in Honolulu last month agreed to recommend to the Seattle meeting that a trade and investment committee be established to "pursue opportunities" to liberalize and expand trade and investment within APEC.

In a joint press statement issued Friday after their talks, the ASEAN ministers took note of the "continued evolution of APEC as a constructive framework for sustaining growth and dynamism in the Asia-Pacific region."

But they said that since various economic issues were coming to the fore in APEC, the economic ministers of ASEAN "should have more meaningful and active roles in providing directions and guidance to promote common ASEAN interests" in the forum.

While the tone of the statement was bland, several of the ministers spelled out their concerns in response to questions from reporters.

Rafidah Aziz, Malaysia's minister of international trade and industry, said that since it was founded in Canberra in 1989, APEC had moved away from its original objectives of being a "loose consultative forum." Some members, she said, wanted it to become a regional institution.

Since Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia has cited similar concerns in his decision not to attend the Seattle meeting, Mrs. Rafidah's comments were not surprising.

But Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand said that his country was "also worried by the evolution of APEC" in the direction of a body that would determine the rules for trade, investment and services in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We do not want APEC to be a GATT for Asia," he said, referring to the global trade negotiations being held under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Mr. Supachai said that instead of seeking to turn the Pacific into a free-trade zone, APEC members should be giving priority to doing everything possible to ensure that the stalled multilateral trade talks reached a successful conclusion.

He also said that if the multilateral system failed and APEC became a strong institution, its weaker members might be "coerced" into accepting new rules for trade dictated by major economic powers.

Speaking as chairman of the ASEAN meeting, Suppiah Dhanabalan, the Singapore minister for trade and industry, said that the group was concerned that APEC "should not become a kind of organization that displaces or dilutes the kind of relationship that we have within ASEAN."

At a news conference Sept. 22 in Honolulu, where she attended the APEC senior officials meeting, Charlene Barshefsky, the deputy U.S. trade representative, said that Washington "looks at APEC as being the premier Asia-Pacific institution or body in this region."

But Mr. Dhanabalan said that it had taken ASEAN some 30 years to develop a working relationship and cooperative attitude among its members.

He added that the economic ministers did not want ASEAN's involvement in other organizations to weaken "what we have achieved so far."

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