BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan, May 25 (PNA) — Trade officials meeting for the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) agreed to complete the study on the Free Trade Area in the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) by the end of 2016, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, said in a press conference on Sunday.
Domingo was asked by the media what was achieved during the one-and-a-half day MRT meeting with regards to the FTAAP.
“As agreed last year in Beijing that we will complete the terms of reference this year, so that was endorsed. And we will complete the study by end of next year, so that was decided during the MRT,” he said as a response.
Asia-Pacific leaders who met in China last year agreed to move towards a new free trade zone strongly backed by Beijing. They agreed to launch a study into the FTAAP.
Also during the press conference, Domingo read the APEC MRT statement, with the ministers reaffirming their commitment to promote trade and investment liberalization and strengthen economic cooperation to achieve inclusive growth in the Asia Pacific region.
We are committed to building an open economy in the Asia Pacific region featuring innovative development, interconnected growth and shared interests,” the ministers said in the statement.
“We shared ideas and exchanged views on important trade and investment issues to build consensus on how we can work together effectively and efficiently for the betterment of the APEC region.”
They said that as the world economy still struggles to gain traction and as the world trade lags behind its potential, growth has remained uneven and below the pace necessary to generate the jobs that the APEC economies need.
And as the leaders of a dynamic region, which accounts for 46 percent of the world trade, 57 percent of the global GDP and 39 percent of the global population, the ministers said they have an obligation to expand trade and spur economic activity.
The goal is to attain a strong, sustainable, and inclusive growth for the entire Asia Pacific region, they said. (PNA)