Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Australia
APEC's Three Pillars
Business Facilitation
APEC's business facilitation program aims to open markets by reducing the cost of cross-border trade, improving access to trade information and aligning policy and business strategies to liberalise trade and assist growth in all sectors.
Simplifying regulatory and administrative processes is central to APEC's work. Target areas include customs regimes, sanitary, health and safety requirements, recognition of qualifications and visa and investment controls.
APEC achieves results for business using flexible programs, products and dialogues such as the APEC Business Travel Card Scheme, the BizAPEC website, the APEC Tariff Database and the APEC Business Travel Handbook.
Further Reading
- APEC
2000: Getting Results for Business
- APEC Business Forum
- APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)
- Business Briefings
- APECNET - Linking Trade Opportunities for APEC members
Harmonisation: standards, customs and conformance
APEC is working to enhance regional product flows and reduce costs to manufacturers and consumers. APEC aims for substantial alignment between APEC economies in four target sectors – food labelling, industrial robots, and select electrical and rubber goods - by 2005.
APEC is also harmonising and simplifying customs procedures to achieve efficient cross-border transfers of goods. This will result in improved access to markets and reduced costs for importers and exporters.
The progressive implementation of Mutual Recognition Arrangements is an important part of APEC's work on conformance. MRAs allow an economy to accept products from other economies which meet its own requirements without the need for further testing. MRAs reduce production time and costs and enable consumers to buy high quality goods at lower prices.
APEC concluded the world's first Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Telecommunications equipment. The Arrangement has the potential to save business about 5 per cent in the cost of developing new communications products. It will also reduce lead times on the delivery of products to the market and lower marketing costs for new products by up to 30 per cent, saving more than US$100 million a year.
APEC Business Travel Card scheme
The APEC
Business Travel Card (ABTC) scheme helps promote regional trade by providing fast-tracked business
travel between 17 APEC member economies.
The credit-card sized ABTC works like a short-term business visa; it is valid for up to three years for short-term business visits between Australia, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Brunei, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Cardholders enjoy faster immigration processing on arrival and departure at international airports, where they are fast-tracked through special APEC lanes
APEC Business Travel Handbook
The APEC Business Travel Handbook is intended to assist business people who travel in the Asia-Pacific region by providing a quick reference guide to the visa and entry requirements of APEC member economies. The electronic Handbook also provides contact details for the embassies, consulates and other visa-issuing agencies of each member economy.
E-commerce: smart trading
Paperless Trading: Benefits to APEC
Reducing or eliminating paper-based trade has the potential to revolutionise the conduct of trade within the region. The report, Paperless Trading: Benefits to APEC, highlights the economic benefits of eliminating paper-based documents in international trade, estimating that a 3% reduction in the cost of imported items would save APEC traders US$60 million each year.
The report also demonstrates how paperless trading streamlines production processes, generates innovative new product design and helps firms access new opportunities to participate in cross-border supply chains.
e-APEC Strategy
APEC's new e-APEC strategy (PDF File, 253KB) is a blueprint for the development of the New Economy, information and communications technology (ICT) in the region. This initiative will help APEC economies tap the opportunities for economic growth, employment and higher living standards provided by the rapid growth of the ICT sector. The e-APEC strategy will focus on creating an environment for strengthening market structures and institutions, creating an environment for infrastructure, investment and technology development and human capacity building and entrepreneurial development.