APEC Leaders resolve to support sustained, balanced growth
Issued by the 19th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting
Honolulu, United States, November 13, 2011 – Today US President Barack
Obama hosted leaders of the of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum in Honolulu, Hawaii.
With the adoption of the “Honolulu
Declaration,” leaders agreed to take concrete steps toward building a
“seamless regional economy” that will generate growth and create jobs in three
priority areas: strengthening regional economic integration and expanding
trade, promoting green growth, and advancing regulatory convergence and
cooperation.
Photos and video
are available from the meeting.
Leaders agreed to address two key next generation trade and investment issues
facing the region. They committed to help small and medium-sized enterprises
grow and better plug into global production chains. They also committed to
promote effective, non-discriminatory and market-driven innovation policies,
including by not conditioning government preferences on commercial goods and
services on the location of the development or ownership of intellectual
property.
Economies agreed to develop by 2012 a list of environmental goods that
contribute to green growth and sustainable development on which economies are
resolved to reduce applied tariff rates to five percent or less by the end of
2015. Economies will also eliminate non-tariff barriers, including local
content requirements that distort environmental goods and services trade. The
APEC economies also decided to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies,
setting up a reporting mechanism to track progress, and raised their APEC-wide
energy intensity reduction target, to 45 percent by 2035.
Leaders committed to take specific steps by 2013 to implement good regulatory
practices in their economies, including by ensuring internal coordination of
regulatory work; assessing regulatory impacts; and conducting public
consultation.
Leaders also expressed deep concerns regarding the impasse confronting the Doha
Development Agenda.
“Fresh thinking involving innovative approaches is required, including possibilities
that involve advancing specific parts of the Doha agenda where consensus might
be reached on a provisional or definitive basis,” Leaders said in their
Declaration.
Given the precarious position of the global economy, Leaders also shared their
views on the state of the global economy, the sources of global growth, and
what it means for job creation.
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For more information, contact: Augustine Kwan +65 9831 0717 at ak@apec.org or Trudy Harris +65 98983710 at th@apec.org or Michael Chapnick +1 (202) 664 6245
at mc@apec.org.
Details about APEC meetings, events, projects and publications can be found at www.apec.org or www.apec2011.gov.
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