APEC 2010

“Change and Action” in Regional Trade

The Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade was held in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on June 5 and 6, with participation by all the relevant ministers from the twenty-one economies in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The Japan Journal’s Hitoshi Chiba reports.

This year’s Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) was chaired by two Japanese ministers, Katsuya Okada (Minister for Foreign Affairs) and Masayuki Naoshima (Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry), who brought two days of lively talks to a successful conclusion on June 6 with the adoption of the Chair’s Statement and the Ministers’ Statement on Supporting the Multilateral Trading System and Resisting Protectionism.

The MRT is a venue for discussing trade-related agenda including promoting trade liberalization in the APEC region among APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade. At the same time, this meeting functions as a venue for making an interim review of the APEC process, as the MRT is held in the middle of each year.

At this year’s MRT, participants first discussed supporting the multilateral trading system before assessing the achievement of the Bogor Goals and discussing the key priorities and the way forward of APEC. In relation to the Bogor Goals in particular, Ministers thrust of the assessment. (The Bogor Goals were established at the APEC Economic Leaders’ meeting in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994, where industrialized economies committed to achieving the goals by 2010 and developing economies committed to achieving the goals by 2020. This process has been the focus of global attention for achieving free trade and investment.)


Foreign Minister Okada was positive about the adoption of the Chair’s Statement and its substance, saying that the meeting had three main outcomes.

Firstly, he said, “There was a focused discussion on how well the thirteen economies subject to assessment in 2010 have achieved the Bogor Goals, and we achieved a shared understanding regarding the outlines of the assessment.” He added, “we were able to have in-depth discussion about regional economic integration, the growth strategy and human security based on the work of assessing the achievement of the Bogor Goals. ”Finally, the minister stated, “As well as reconfirming our commitment to fighting protectionism, we were also able to confirm each economy’s unwavering determination to ensure that the WTO Doha Development Agenda reaches conclusion as soon as possible.”

Minister Okada also expressed his personal determination, saying, “I was extremely encouraged to find that all of the ministers attending the meeting had exactly the same awareness of the importance of liberalizing trade and investment, and of the importance of accomplishing eco-nomic growth as a result. I intend to strive to use this meeting as a stepping stone to seek convergence of views toward the success of the Doha Development Agenda.”


Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Naoshima spoke of the challenges that lie ahead. “Quite a few people expressed opinions concern-ing FTAAP (Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific) and the growth strategy. Based on the discus-sion at the meeting, we would like to deepen discussions on sectoral cooperation in the various ministerial meetings, so that these outcomes can be reflected at the Yokohama meetings.”

Minister Naoshima also said, “The APEC region occupies an important position as it becomes the center of global growth once again, after overcoming the financial crisis that started with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. As the APEC ministers responsible for trade, we must fulfill our huge responsibility to global growth by lead-ing the way towards long-term sustainable growth. The theme for APEC 2010 is ‘Change and Action.’ I believe it is important that we respond to the structural shifts in the global economy, envision the necessary changes, and then take the concrete actions necessary to make these changes a reality.”

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ABTC: The APEC Business Travel Card

The APEC Business Travel Card program aims to facilitate movement of business travelers in participating economies (countries and regions) within the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) region. Australia, the Philippines and South Korea agreed to a trial operation of the program from 1997 onwards, and the program now has the participation of eighteen economies, with a cumulative total of some 220,000 cards having been issued in the APEC region as of May 2010.

Participating economies issue cards after obtaining pre-clearances of each economy upon application from business people. The advantage of the card is that users can take immigration checks at the designated lanes for cardholders without having a short-term business visa, and thus the cardholders can enjoy smooth procedures for entries and departures.

“The ABTC is created by APEC as a specific tool for facilitating the movement of business people. The scheme is highly useful for frequent business travelers because cardholders enjoy immigration checks by using dedicated lanes without a visa,” says Takuya Sasayama, head of the APEC Office of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


By March 2010, the number of pre-clearances granted to foreign business travelers by Japan through the ABTC program had surpassed 100,000. Initially, when Japan participated in the scheme in 2003, the number of pre-clearances was around 2,500 per year, but the numbers gradually increased, surpassing 20,000 in fiscal 2007 and rising almost to 28,000 in fiscal 2009. Moreover, as of May 2010, the Japanese Government has issued more than 5,000 ABTC to Japanese business people who engage in trade and in-vestment in major trading firms and the manufacturing industry.

One trading firm employee, in his thirties, said that entry and departure procedures are speedy and stress free. A worker at an automaker, also in his thirties, said that he can get to where he needs to go and pre-pare for negotiations with time to spare, while an executive at a chemicals manufacturer, in his for-ties, noted that smooth travel means he can focus on business.

APEC’s group of experts on mobility for business travelers, known as the Business Mobility Group, is currently discussing ways to bring further convenience to the ABTC scheme.

“The subjects of discussion include shortening the examination period for ABTC issuance. Japan, a chair of APEC 2010, is also proposing and contributing to enhancement of the function of ABTC.”