Visit : http://www.thediplomaticsociety.asia
APEC MRT 2013 Meeting in Indonesia Ends with Four Agreements
APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting 20-21 April 2013,
Surabaya, Indonesia
Surabaya, Indonesia 21 April 2013 - The APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade/MRT meeting which took place in Surabaya for two days ended today (Sunday, 21/4). “There are four main things that were agreed upon by the APEC Member Economies, namely the commitment to support the multilateral trade system through the 9th Ministerial Conference/MC9, the achievement of the Bogor Goals, the achievement of sustainable growth with equity, and promoting connectivity,” said The Indonesian Minister of Trade Gita Wirjawan, who was also the Chair of the 2013 MRT meeting.
“Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global Growth”, which was the theme of the 2013 APEC MRT Meeting voiced the calling to establish a stronger and more resilient Asia-Pacific region that can play its complete role as the engine of global growth.
The APEC Ministers also urged the finalization of negotiation issues of trade, agriculture, and development facilitation, including those that are in the interest of Less Developed Countries, added Trade Minister Gita. Besides the four aforementioned agreements, at this APEC MRT meeting, the Trade Ministers of the APEC Member Economies gave extra attention to the issue of trade development of environmentally friendly products. Indonesia wants the palm oil and
natural rubber to be included into the APEC Environmental Goods List (EGs List). The response from the APEC Member Economies to that request was varied; however, almost all of them declined the request at this time.
APEC agreed upon the reduction of tariffs to 5% for all 54 products in the EGs List by 2015.Other matters that were addressed by the APEC Ministers during the meeting were issues on rationalization and eradication of fuel subsidies that are inefficient; Indonesia’s initiative regarding the Clean, Renewable Energy and Sustainability in the APEC region conference before the commencement of the ASEAN Summit that will be focusing on increasing investment in renewable energy; and cooperation for capacity building and clean and renewable energy development projects. After the press conference, which ends the 2013 APEC MRT meeting, The Indonesian Minister of Trade, Gita Wirjawan, continued on with other meetings in his agenda, namely bilateral meetings with Japan, Taiwan, and New Zealand.
Story and Picture Public Public Relations Center, The Ministry of
Trade, Republic of Indonesia
Trade, Republic of Indonesia
No comments:
Post a Comment