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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Auckland, New Zealand)
For Immediate Release September 12, 1999
FACT SHEET
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
President Clinton travels to Auckland, New Zealand for the 1999 Asia-
Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting. The APEC forum was established in
1989 to promote
economic integration in the Pacific region and to sustain economic
growth. APEC currently has
21 members: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic
of China; Hong Kong,
China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand;
Papua New Guinea;
Peru; Republic of the Philippines; Russia; Singapore; Chinese Taipei;
Thailand; the United States
of America; and Vietnam.
Recognizing the value of top-level meetings to advance the work of APEC,
President Clinton
decided in 1993 to invite member economies' leaders to Blake Island,
Washington, to meet
informally to discuss major issues of concern and interest to the APEC
region. This top-level
gathering of economic leaders has become an integral part of APEC,
advancing a vision of APEC
as a means to increase the region's prosperity based on the concepts of
mutual economic benefit,
cooperation, and commitment to free and open trade.
The United States is actively engaged in APEC because the economic health
of its members
has become vitally important to our own economic well-being. In 1998,
U.S. trade with APEC totaled
over $1.035 trillion, roughly two-thirds of U.S. trade with the world.
U.S. exports to APEC increased
70% from 1990-97, although they fell in 1998 by about 4 per cent as a
result of the Asian financial
crisis. In 1997 exports from the U.S. to APEC totaled $432.6 billion and
in 1998 they had dropped to
$415.7 billion. U.S. imports from APEC increased 69% from 1990-1997 and
continued to rise during
the financial crisis. Imports from APEC in 1997 totaled about $589.3
billion and rose to about $620.5
billion in 1998. These trade figures alone underscore that the United
States is already tightly bound
to the region, and the underlying trends suggest this interdependence
will only grow in the future.
It also underscores how important the continued vibrancy of the U.S.
economy has been to pulling
the region out of the crisis, even at the cost of a rising trade deficit
with the region. Fostering strong
and sustainable growth in APEC economies would help to reduce the U.S.
trade deficit.
The financial crisis has only served to underscore this interdependence
and the need to follow
prudent economic policies. APEC's efforts complement the important work
being done by the
International Monetary Fund and other International Financial
Institutions. APEC has helped to
promote and sustain economic recovery in the region, encouraging member
economies to pursue
macroeconomic policies that stimulate domestic demand and restructure
financial and corporate
sectors. APEC is promoting strengthened markets through increased
transparency, openness and
predictability based on the rule of law. It seeks to eliminate
impediments to trade and investment
and meet the goals it set in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994 of free trade for
the developed countries by
2010 and for the developing countries by 2020.
APEC can serve a crucial role in advancing long-term projects and
initiatives that will assist APEC
members to reform their economies and implement the kind of changes that
will make them stronger
so that they can resume their remarkable economic progress. It also can
help to foster development
of the physical and human capital necessary to sustain growth in the 21st
century.
APEC is also a forum to discuss the social dimensions of trade, including
environmental concerns.
Climate change, for example, featured prominently in discussions in 1997
prior to the Kyoto
Conference. APEC working groups have sought to address global and
regional issues related to
sustainable economic growth. In addition, APEC has sought to address the
social impact of the
financial crisis that has had a major negative impact on the poorer
members of Asia-Pacific
societies by promoting the development of small and medium size
enterprises that create jobs
and the strengthening of social safety nets.
Finally, APEC is a multilateral forum that seeks direct private sector
input to encourage the sharing
of best business practices. For example, public-private collaboration on
customs projects is
becoming a model for the positive benefits that the public sector can
derive from partnership with
business constituents.
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