PECC’s TRADE POLICY FORUM (TPF) 
in co-operation with the Thai Ministry of Commerce[1]  REGIONAL TRADING ARRANGEMENTS: STOCKTAKE AND NEXT STEPS, Bangkok, June 12-13, 2001

Background: The Issues

Since early 1999 there has been a proliferation of proposals for bilateral and plurilateral trading arrangements in the APEC region.  These include proposals for new bilateral arrangements within East Asia and between East Asian and Australasian economies, and also proposals for trans-Pacific arrangements linking Western Pacific (East Asian and Australasian) economies and both NAFTA members and South American APEC members in the Western Pacific.  This new emphasis on preferential bilateral arrangements in the APEC region has been strongly endorsed for example by the Prime Minister of Singapore, who refers to the new bilateral and plurilateral proposals as “cross regional free trade areas” (CRFTAs).

At the same time commentators such as Bergsten (2000)[2] have noted and emphasized a new readiness in East Asia to consider the establishment of some form of East Asian economic entity.  While explorations along these lines are focusing primarily on monetary issues, the recent major shift in policy stance by Japan and Korea, whereby those two economies are now actively considering participation in preferential trading arrangements (including with each other) removes a longstanding obstacle to the eventual formation of an East Asian trade bloc, although significant political and economic obstacles do in fact remain.

APEC’s members remain formally committed to achievement of free trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 in the case of developed economy members and by 2020 for developing economy members.  The new proliferation of preferential proposals in the APEC region has however coincided with some observable loss of momentum within APEC.

There is a range of alternative paths for regional trade liberalization initiatives in the region[3]:

• new preferential bilateral and plurilateral arrangements (the CRFTAs)
• various possible configurations of an eventual East Asian trade bloc
• achievement of APEC’s goals via non-discriminatory (concerted unilateral) liberalization
• conversion of APEC into a preferential trading arrangement.

The issues to be addressed are the likely economic implications of these alternative configurations for the East Asian economies and for their pattern of regional trade and development.  Attention needs to be focused on the effects on and interests of both participants and non-participants in the potential arrangements identified, implications for the overall regional trading environment and multilateral trading system, and the conditions for minimizing potential trade conflict under the various alternatives.

The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC)’s Trade Policy Forum (TPF) will hold a forum on Regional Trading Arrangements (RTAs) in co-operation with the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand, to address the following:

·        Stock-take of existing knowledge on role of RTAs in the Asia-Pacific and Global trading systems

·        Implications of the new RTA developments in the APEC region

·        Selected case studies of new RTA in the APEC region

·         Issues in the design of modern RTA

·        Emerging debate on the role of RTAs in development, with specific reference to the experiences of East Asian and Latin American economies

The preparation of some of the papers by TPF experts have been done as part of the regional integration study of the World Bank, and in collaboration and with significant input from the Trade Division in UNCTAD.

The terminology RTA is used in a broader context of regional trading arrangements which include bilateral, plurilateral, cross regional and regional agreements, and also include various levels of integration from free trade area to preferential trade area.

  2001 Bangkok RTAs (papers)

Stocktaking: Trends in Regional Arrangements in the Asia-Pacific

• Regional Trade Arrangements in Asia Pacific: Where are they taking us?
  Mari Pangestu, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, Indonesia
  Christopher Findlay, Australia National University  

• RTAs Trends in the APEC Region
  Robert Scollay, University of Auckland, New Zealand

• RTA Developments in the Western Hemisphere
  Juan Jose Taccone, Inter America Development Bank

Perspectives on the Future Configuration of Asia-Pacific Trade Relations:

• Whither ASEAN plus 3?
  Hadi Soesastro, CSIS, Jakarta, Indonesia

• The FTAA: State of Play, Next Steps, and Implications
  Maryse Robert, Organisation of American States (OAS)

• Regionalism and Multilateralism: Work on Systemic Issues in the WTO
  Edsel Custodio, former Chair of CRTA, WTO

• RTAs: Policy Choices for the United States
  Richard Feinberg, UC San Diego, US

• RTAs: Japanese Perspective
  Shujiro Urata, Waseda University, Japan

• The Trend of East Asian Cooperation
  Zhang Yunling, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Beijing, China  

Analytical and Policy Issues in New Asia-Pacific RTA Developments:

• Preferential Trade Liberalization: The Traditional and New Developments
  Arvind Panagariya, Chief Economist, Asian Development Bank

• Assessing Regional Trading Arrangements in the Asia Pacific
  John Gilbert, Washington State University, US
  Robert Scollay, APEC Study Center, University of Auckland
  Bijit Bora, Trade Analysis Branch, UNCTAD

• Implications of Proliferating Sub-regional Trade Agreements : Lessons from the Latin American Experience
  Jose M. Salazar, Trade Unit, OAS

Case Studies on RTA Developments:

• Japan’s FTAs with Singapore, Korea and Mexico
  Ippei Yamazawa, Waseda University and Institute of Developing Economies

• Korea's FTA Developments
  Chan-Hyun Sohn, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)

• Singapore’s RTA Strategy
  Linda Low, National University of Singapore

• Canada's Regional Arrangements: Advances and Challenges
  Daniela Ivascanu, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada

• Australian Perspective on the AFTA-CER Proposal
  Hamish McCormick, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia

Trends and Issues in the Design of Modern RTAs:

• Liberalization of Trade in Services: East Asia and the Western Hemisphere
  Sherry Stephenson, Organization of American States (OAS), Washington D.C., US.
  Deunden Nikomborirak, TDRI

• Deeper Integration: Competition and Investment
  Peter Lloyd, University of Melbourne, Australia

• Chile and the USA: Why a FTA?
  Oscar Facusse, Catholic University, Chile

The Way Ahead:

• The Way Ahead
  Ippei Yamazawa, Waseda University and Institute of Developing Economies

• APEC-Friendly Economic Partnerships
  Andrew Elek, Australian National University, Australia

• RTAs: Stocktake and Next Steps
  Mari Pangestu, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta, Indonesia
  Robert Scollay, APEC Study Center, University of Auckland