APEC

Chile and Australia in APEC

Chile is characterised by its open economy and the by its strong involvement in international trade. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) represents almost 47% of GDP world-wide and almost half of the world’s population. At least 57% of Chilean exports are directed to APEC economies.

In 2004 Chilean exports to APEC added up to over UD$17 billion.

Nine APEC economies have reached commercial agreements with Chile; Mexico, Canada, Korea, the USA, the People’s Republic of China, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei and Peru. Chile is in the process of developing ties with three other APEC economies. Chile is exploring Free Trade Agreements with Malaysia and Thailand and is also engaged in negotiations with Japan. Independently from APEC, Chile has signed an Agreement of Partial Reach with India in March 2006.

It is clear that this region offers Chile an enormous opportunity. Chile has, therefore, had outstanding participation in numerous APEC forums, for example, human resources, science and technology, mining, energy, services, pensions systems and the Advisory Committee of Businesspeople of APEC (ABAC), and others. Chile was one of the first economies that incorporated the APEC Business Travel Card system and pioneered the use of Individual Action Plans (IAPs).

APEC is vital for Chile as it is a catalyst for economic and commercial liberalization at both bilateral and multilateral levels. This makes it an effective instrument to implement Chile’s foreign policy objectives in the Asia-Pacific region.

For Australia –a charter member of APEC- this alliance is a fundamental element to foreign policy. In 1989 APEC first began as informal meetings at the ministerial level, headed by Prime Minister Bob Hawke in Canberra. The first twelve members that attended the meeting were New Zealand, the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Australia will next host the APEC leader’s summit in Sydney, September 2007.

Australia has contributed some very useful initiatives such as the creation and implementation of the
APEC Business Travel Card to facilitate businesspeople’s travel. Chile has participated in this scheme since 1998.

For Chile understandings reached within APEC are very productive and as there are many areas of mutual interest, it suggests a very promising future. Co-operation between Australia and Chile has been especially successful with many advancements being made in key areas of commerce.

At several APEC meetings, officials from Chile and Australia have taken the opportunity to strengthen political bonds between the countries. To further enhance APEC, Chile and Australia have co-operated to establish the Commission of Commerce and Investment (1998).

APEC 2004 CHILE

Described as a great moment in Chile’s history of international relations, the 2004 APEC meeting Chile was a huge success. Those who participated in the summit, the subjects discussed, and the excellent organization demonstrated that Chile has an important role to play in both Asia Pacific and in the international community. The meeting was also attended by Australian Prime Minister John Howard who seized the opportunity to reinforce the excellent level of understanding between the Chile and Australia.

Consistent with the summit President’s motto, “One Community, Our Future” Chile demonstrated its leadership skills in effectively co-coordinating activities and the APEC agenda. Subjects were integrated in a practical and interesting manner while maintaining the permanent Agenda of the forum. The objective was to gain the support of all APEC members and reassure them of everyone mutual commitment the annual agenda.

During 2004 Chile hosted the meeting in response to the summons by the Summit of Economic Leaders (November 20-21), and was responsible for organizing all the various meetings that were held (education, commerce, mining, finance and tourism). The events were concluded with a series of Senior Official Meetings.

In light of the highly influential matters discussed at the Leaders Summit and with the Ministers of Commerce, this meeting has been a very important time for Chile. With four of the G8 powers in Santiago, the many conferences on bilateral relations were a central event to the APEC negotiations in Chile 2004. Summit leaders made decisive progress for liberalization and the opening of markets (especially through good practices in FTAs/RTAs and initiatives for market expansion in Santiago. Advances in human security were also made (including secure sanitation to combat HIV/AIDS) as well as increased protection for rights. Good governance was promoted with strategies to assist Santiago’s commitment to fight corruption and insure transparency. The Summit also looked at how to strengthen the Doha round (DDA).

In addition, the Chilean Presidency established the priorities and agenda of the forum in the following areas.

-Support for the WTO and the DDA that would have benefits in Santiago.

-Security and commerce, a topic raised by the Conference for Secure Commerce in the APEC region (STAR II, 5-6 March, Reñaca).

-Inclusion of FTAs in the APEC agenda, added as a result of representative meeting in Pucón, May 30. During this conference Chile achieved similar results with the approval of Good Practices in APEC.

-English to facilitate work, an issue of interest for the Ministry of Education (29-30 April, Santiago) and supported by the Summit Leaders.

-Micro, small and medium sized companies, an area developed firstly at the PyMEs Meeting of Ministers (6-7 October, Santiago) and in great depth at the PyME joint Meeting of Ministers (17-18 November, Santiago)

-Financial structural reformation, a central topic for the Ministry of Finance, (1-3 September, Santiago). The fiscal policies are especially effective in deceleration cycles as they encourage economies to develop instruments –both domestic and international- to reduce the negative effects of volatile capital flows.

-Other areas include: implementing standards of Transparency to show advances in responsible Government spending; attempts to agree on the parameters of the structural reform of APEC; preparations to revise the progress of Bogor; the first report on anti-corruption in APEC; extended consideration on open markets; the approval of Chile’s candidate for Sustainable Development, Marco de Acción.

Last updated: March 29, 2006