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Forum's effectiveness in spotlight
Mark Hollands for CNN
(CNN) -- Free trade and investment are the ultimate goals of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which is preparing to meet in the Thai capital of Bangkok from October 19-21. The goals, established at the 1994 APEC summit in Bogor, Indonesia are the "heart and soul" of the forum, according to the New Zealand ambassador to APEC, George Troup. These aim to achieve free trade between members with mature economies, such as the United States, Australia and Singapore, by 2010 and then between those nations with emerging economies by 2020. "Whatever happens at APEC in Bangkok, the New Zealand Government would never want to see the organisation step away from the Bogor Goals," said Troup. "While we value APEC as a flexible forum that can discuss issues such as terrorism, or a political situation such as East Timor, we do not want to see the Bogor Goals diminished." New Zealand is an ardent supporter of APEC, as some 73 per cent of its exports and 72 per cent of its imports are with APEC members. Not everyone is so enamoured with APEC. Australian academic Christopher Findlay said the organisation was "good at standing against things, not for them". "APEC is overloaded with micro-issues, which has made it less attractive to the senior people, and the agenda has tended to take on pet projects of the host countries," said Dr Findlay, Director of Infrastructure Management Program at the Australian National University's Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government. "They need to shake up the work program and focus on strategy that accommodates everyone's interests." Dr Findlay said APEC had failed to make its mark as a focal point of national and international politics. "It's not a central point," he said. "Countries still make their own individual decisions." He expressed his frustration that APEC members never made as much progress on trade issues as it appeared at their meeting. "When they get into the World Trade Organization (WTO), sectoral interests take over," he said. The APEC summit in Bangkok will be held in the aftermath of the disastrous WTO talks in Cancun, Mexico, which broke up amid acrimony over market access and agriculture subsidies. Significant divisions existed between negotiators representing the United States, European Union and those of emerging economies. "APEC is not delivering on the economic and technical co-operation that had been envisaged," Dr Findlay said. The Australian ambassador to APEC, Geoff Raby, argued the organization provided "a significant framework for openness and liberalization". "It is the most representative forum of its type in the world," Dr Raby said, "in both political, religious and cultural terms." "As a consequence, the agenda is always flexible to allow the leaders to respond to the issues of the day. I believe the forum will be seeking to give the global economy direction through the WTO and how to bring the Doha round (of trade talks) to a successful conclusion. "The strength of APEC is the caliber and diversity of leadership that attends, and the strength of its meetings are their informality, which allows leaders to be able to discuss issues that are foremost on their agenda." President of Hawaii-based think-tank, the East-West Center, Charles Morrison, said there was "not much of a U.S. view of APEC". It was the least important of "three spouses", alongside U.S. domestic politics and trans-Atlantic and European alliances. "It is 10 years since the first meeting, and not a lot has been achieved," Dr Morrison said. "It has failed to achieve a top-down approach from its leadership. Instead, it suffers very much a bottom-up approach, allowing officials to dictate the majority of its activities. This situation should be a major item of discussion for the Bangkok meeting. "There is also a feeling a number of countries want to turn APEC into an economic bloc, which is beyond its original intention of promoting trade, business and political co-operation." Leading Asian commentator Timothy Ong recently complained that as a region, the Asia-Pacific lacked a "sense of community". "APEC's objectives are clear but its procedural execution is still vague," said Ong, the co-chairman of The Edge Asia, at the recent 15th annual meeting of the Pacific Economic Co-Operation Council (PECC).
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