REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - International trade is gradually improving and there is renewed energy in the multilateral trading system, which APEC member economies are driving forward. Yet, sustained efforts are needed to boost trade flows to desired levels and put the world economy on a path to more robust growth and prosperity.

The assessment was provided by APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Alan Bollard and World Trade Organization Director General, Roberto Azevêdo in a joint press conference along the margins of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting that concluded on Sunday.

“The Asia-Pacific region has of course seen very high growth, driven by very high trade growth, but over the last few years there has been much less trade growth. Ministers are talking about some big topics to give direction from the top down,” Bollard said in a written statement on Sunday.

The implementation of WTO agreement on trade facilitation is now a focus within APEC. Member economies are working together to build global capacity for this based on their experience in simplifying custom's procedures and cutting unnecessary administrative costs for moving goods across borders. As a result, trade transaction costs in the APEC region dropped by ten percent between 2002 and 2010. 

Reductions during the 2007-2010 period alone saved businesses nearly 60 billion USD. Global trade could increase between 350 billion USD to 1 trillion USD annually through the adoption of comparable initiatives under the trade facilitation agreement.

“We have to try to finish the work that will put the agreement in place. On the conclusion of the Doha Round, we have to move from a discussion about general concepts into one that is more specific, more focused in a solution finding motif,” Azevêdo added. 

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