US DEPARTMENT OF STATE DISPATCH
VOLUME 4, NUMBER 48, NOVEMBER 29, 1993
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:
1.  The APEC Role in Creating Jobs, Opportunities, and Security -- 
President Clinton
2.  America's Pacific Future -- Secretary Christopher
3.  APEC:  Charting a Course For Prosperity -- Secretary Christopher
4.  Developing APEC as a  Platform for Prosperity -- Secretary 
Christopher
5.  APEC:  A Forum To Boost Trade and Investment -- Secretary 
Christopher
6.  Briefing on the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting -- Winston Lord
7.  APEC Ministerial Meeting Joint Statement
8.  Declaration on an APEC Trade And Investment Framework
9.  APEC Economic Leaders' Vision Statement
10.  Fact Sheet:  Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
11.  Fact Sheet:  APEC Working Groups
12.  Fact Sheet:  U.S. Economic Relations With East Asia And the Pacific


ARTICLE 1:

The APEC Role in Creating Jobs, Opportunities, and Security
President Clinton
Address to the Seattle APEC Host Committee, Seattle, Washington, 
November 19, 1993

Thank you so much for that warm welcome, and thank you--all of you--for 
everything you have done to make this Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 
conference a success.  I want to thank your governor for his leadership 
in coming all the way to Washington, DC, to help me pass the NAFTA 
agreement and for speaking up for it as a leader of the State which 
leads America in per capita trade.  I want to thank my good friend, 
Mayor Rice, who heads this wonderful city, which has been voted the best 
city in America in which to do business--in no small measure because of 
your mayor.  

I'm glad to see my friend and former colleague, Governor Roberts, out 
there.  I must say, I sort of jumped when Governor Lowry introduced her 
as his neighbor to the south.  I never thought of Oregon as being in the 
south before.  That's a lesson for this whole conference--perspective is 
very important.  

I have one member of your delegation here, Congressman Norm Dicks, who 
came back with me yesterday, and Speaker Foley is on the way.  But I'm 
glad to see him here.  The Washington delegation has been enormously 
supportive of this Administration in the cause of economic expansion, 
and I am very grateful for that.  

Senator Murray wanted to come back with me also, but she's on the floor 
of the Senate, even as I speak here, debating the crime bill and trying 
to pass it--with 100,000 new police officers--and the Brady bill and a 
historic ban on assault weapons, which she's working hard to keep in the 
bill.  

I love Seattle.  I always love to come here.  I called home last night, 
and both my wife and daughter chewed me out because I was here and they 
weren't.  We've had some wonderful days here.  This morning I got up and  
went running in Green Lake Park.  I didn't turn green, but I nearly did; 
it was a vigorous run.  

I am delighted that so many members of our Administration came with me--
Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, Chief of Staff Mack McLarty, and 
National Economic Adviser Bob Rubin are over here to my right.  We also 
have Trade Representative Ambassador Mickey Kantor here and Secretary of 
State Warren Christopher.  They've all come here to make it clear how 
important we believe this wonderful meeting is to our future interests, 
as I know you do.  I'm glad to see so many of my friends here from other 
States in the west and, indeed, from all across America. 

This organization, APEC, has historically had 15 members that together 
account for more than half the world's output--Australia, Brunei, 
Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the 
Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and the 
United States.  At this meeting, we are adding Mexico and Papua New 
Guinea.  This will be the first time that leaders of all of these 
economies have gathered together.  APEC reflects the Asia-Pacific values 
of harmony and consensus-building.  Our goal this week will be to do 
some of both.  

This city is the appropriate place to have this meeting.  Not only is 
Washington State the most trade-oriented state in the Union, but as I 
learned from the governor on the way upstairs, 80% of your trade is tied 
to the Asia-Pacific region, and 90% of the imports to this port in 
Seattle come from Asia.  Over half of Boeing's planes, Microsoft's 
computer programs, and Washington's wheat are sold abroad.  

Today I want to talk with you who have done so much to make this meeting 
a reality about why APEC and the Asia-Pacific region will play a vital 
role in our American quest to create jobs and opportunity and security.  
And I want to begin by talking about what I believe our broader purposes 
as a nation must be as we near the end of this tumultuous century. 

Our Nation's Broader Purposes
Once in a great while, nations arrive at moments of choice that define 
their course and their character for years to come.  These moments are 
always hard because change is always hard, because they are steeped in 
controversy, and because they are often full of risk.  We know and 
regret the moments when our nation has chosen unwisely in the past, such 
as when we turned the world toward protectionism and isolationism after 
World War I or when we failed for so long to face up to the awful 
consequences of slavery.  

We celebrate the chapters of American history in which we chose boldly--
the Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, the containment 
of communism, the embrace of the civil rights movement.  Now we have 
arrived again at such a moment.  Change is upon us; we can do nothing 
about that.  The polestars that guided our affairs in the past years 
have disappeared.  The Soviet Union is gone; communist expansionism has 
ended.  

At the same time, a new global economy, constant innovation, and instant 
communication are cutting through our world like a new river, providing 
both power and disruption to the people and nations who live along its 
course.  Given the disappearance of the Soviet threat and the 
persistence of problems at home--from layoffs and stagnant incomes to 
crime rates--many Americans are tempted to pull back and to turn away 
from the world. 

This morning, I ran with some of my friends from Seattle, and we were 
talking about the irony that some of us felt so excited about this 
meeting and all of its promise and prosperity.  One of my friends, who 
is a judge here, was going to court to deal with candidates for parole 
and talking to me about all the young children who are in trouble--even 
in this, one of our most vibrant cities.  

In times like this, it is easy to just turn away.  Our people have a 
right to feel troubled.  The challenge of the global economy and our 
inadequate response to it for years is shaking the moorings of middle-
class security.  So are the destructive social developments here at home 
and our inadequate response to them.  But we simply cannot let our 
national worries blind us to our national interests.  We cannot find 
security in a policy of withdrawal guided by fear.  We must--we must--
pursue a strategy of involvement grounded in confidence in our ability 
to do well in the future.  

Our security in this new era clearly requires us to reorder our military 
forces and to refine our force structure for the coming years.  But our 
national security also depends upon enlarging the world's community of 
market democracies, because democracies make more peaceful and 
constructive partners.  That's why we're leading an ambitious effort to 
support democratic and market reforms in all the nations of the former 
Soviet Union.  

And more than ever, our security is tied to economics.  Military threats 
remain, and they require our vigilance and resolve.  But increasingly, 
our place in the world will be determined as much by the skills of our 
workers as by the strength of our weapons; as much by our ability to 
pull down foreign trade barriers as our ability to breach distant 
ramparts.  As President, I've worked to put these economic concerns of 
our people at the heart of our domestic and foreign policy.  We cannot 
remain strong abroad unless we are strong at home.  Stagnant nations 
eventually lose the ability to finance military readiness, to afford an 
activist foreign policy, or to inspire allies by their examples.  You 
have only to look at what happened to the former Soviet Union to see 
that lesson writ large.  It collapsed from the inside out, not from the 
outside in.  

At the same time, creating jobs and opportunities for our people at home 
requires us to be engaged abroad, so that we can open foreign markets to 
our exports and our businesses.  Today, exports are the lifeblood of our 
economic growth.  Since the mid-1980s, half our increases in incomes and 
almost all the expansion in manufacturing jobs in the United States have 
been tied to exports.  This trend will continue.  All wealthy nations, 
and many more than ours, are having difficulty creating jobs and raising 
incomes even when there is economic growth.  Why is that?  Because 
workers in advanced countries must become ever more productive to deal 
with competition from low-wage countries on the one hand and high-
skilled, high-tech countries on the other.  Being more productive simply 
means that fewer and fewer people can produce more and more goods.  

In an environment like that, if you want to increase jobs and raise 
incomes, the only way to do it is to find more customers for each 
country's product; there is no alternative.  No one has yet made any 
convincing case that any wealthy country can lower unemployment and 
raise incomes by closing up its borders.  The only way to do it is to 
expand global growth and to expand each country's fair share of global 
trade.  This country must do both.

Strategies To Promote Global Growth
To prosper, therefore, we have to try to get all nations to pursue a 
strategy of growth.  I have worked hard on that.  For 10 years, I 
watched America go to these G-7 meetings and be hammered by other 
nations to reduce its deficit, to stop taking money out of the global 
pool of investment capital, to contribute to global growth by showing 
some discipline here at home.  Well, we've done that.  We've done that.  
And now we must get our partners in Europe and Japan to also follow 
strategies that will promote global growth.  

Much of our trade deficit problems today are the result directly of slow 
economic growth abroad.  And this nation now is growing more rapidly 
than all our wealthiest competitors.  We must do that.  But we must also 
compete, not retreat.  We cannot confuse our objectives with our 
problems.  We have no alternative, even in a time of slow global 
economic growth, to taking the steps to expand world trade.  

We are pursuing a new global trade agreement under GATT by the end of 
this year.  In July, we negotiated a market-opening agreement at the G-7 
to help advance the GATT process.  That market-opening agreement offers 
the prospect of hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the American 
economy.  We have placed our vital relationship with Japan on a new 
foundation that will allow our workers and our businesses greater access 
to Japanese markets when we complete the process.  We have established a 
new dialogue for economic cooperation with Korea aimed at improving 
trade and the regulatory environment for the United States and other 
foreign businesses in that nation.  

Now, after a long and difficult national debate, we're about to secure 
something I have fought for tooth and nail, as the previous speakers 
discussed--the North American Free Trade Agreement.  I fought for NAFTA 
because I believe it will create American jobs, and a lot of them;  
because I believe it will improve the quality of our life; because I 
know it will lead us to similar agreements with the rest of the market 
democracies in Latin America; and because I believe that it sends a 
message that our hemisphere wanted to hear and that the world needs to 
hear--the Cold War may be over, but the United States is not about to 
pull up stakes and go home.  We will remain engaged in the world.  This, 
after all, is the real significance of NAFTA.  It does not create a 
trading bloc.  It is a building block in our efforts to expand world 
economic opportunity and global growth and, in the process, to promote 
jobs and opportunity for Americans. 

Wednesday's vote for NAFTA enables me to begin this APEC meeting 
bolstered by a bold expression of America's intent to remain involved in 
the world.  And the NAFTA vote, combined with this APEC conference, 
greatly strengthens our push for an even bigger potential breakthrough--
a new GATT agreement.  I want to be clear about this:  This nation will 
not accept a flawed agreement; but if we achieve one that meets our 
standards, the benefits to our people could be enormous.  

Over the first 10 years, a good GATT agreement could create 1.4 million 
American jobs and boost the average American family income by $1,700 a 
year.  Over a decade, it could expand the world's economy by $5 
trillion.  This, my fellow Americans, is the answer to 20 years of 
stagnant wages for the hard-working middle class.  

Our willingness to fight for these initiatives--for NAFTA; for an 
invigorated APEC; for a good, new GATT agreement--should make it clear 
to the world that America will lead the charge against global recession 
and the pressures for retrenchment it has created, not just here in our 
country but in all the advanced nations of the world.  Years from today, 
Americans will look back on these months as a moment when our nation 
looked squarely at a new economic era and did not flinch from its 
challenges. As we exert our leadership in the global economy, we have to 
pursue a three-part strategy.  We must first continue to make our 
economy and our people more competitive.   Second, we must focus our 
global initiatives on the fastest-growing regions.  Third, we must 
create new arrangements for international relations so the forces of 
this era benefit our people as well as our partners. 

Making the United States More Competitive
Our first challenge involves actions here at home.  After years of 
neglect, we're putting our economic house in order so we can compete and 
win abroad.  We've enacted a sweeping deficit-reduction measure that 
points the way back to solvency.  The deficit this year was cut about 
$50 billion below where it was estimated to be on the day that I took 
office--largely because of plummeting interest rates that are directly 
resultant from the deficit-reduction efforts.  

We're investing in education and training and in the knowledge and 
skills of our people--in the technologies of the future.  We're working 
to ensure that we have the means to adjust to a dynamic world economy.  
We created some special bridge programs for any workers displaced by 
NAFTA.  And early next year, I will propose a plan to transform 
America's unemployment system into a re-employment system of lifetime 
education and training and job placement services for workers who have 
to change jobs many times. 

Particularly as we enact NAFTA, we must recognize that we have a solemn 
obligation to make our involvement in international trade serve the 
interest of our people.  That means they have to be able to adjust to 
change. 

And if I might just add a parenthesis here to all of you who are very 
much future-oriented:  This country, today, is really being limited in 
what it can do because so many of our systems, economic and social, are 
organized for conditions that no longer exist.  We are not organized to 
make the changes we all want to make.  The unemployment system is simply 
an example of that.  The unemployment system was created at time when 
the average length of unemployment was shorter than it is today and when 
the average unemployed person--when called back to work--went back to 
his or her former employer, which is not the case today.  So 
unemployment could literally be a more passive system.  You could draw 
money out of it.  Your wage would go down for a while, but you knew 
you'd be called back to your old employer.  That's fine for a static 
economy.  It doesn't work for a dynamic economy where the average 18-
year-old must change jobs seven times in a lifetime, where the average 
unemployed person is unemployed  longer, and where most people don't get 
called back to the same job they gave up. 

The unemployment system, in short, is now an unfair tax on employers 
because it doesn't function and is a ripoff for employees because it 
doesn't help them.  Why?  Because the system was organized for a reality 
that isn't there anymore.  So what the Labor Secretary is trying to do 
is to set up a system where people who lose their jobs immediately--and 
even before they lose their jobs, if possible--begin training programs,  
job placement programs, and thinking about what the future really holds, 
instead of living with a system that was yester-day's reality and is 
today's sham.  

Time here does not permit this, but there are a lot of creative people 
in this room.  I cannot resist this opportunity to say that if you look 
at the operative systems in the courts, in the juvenile system, in all 
the social systems in this country, in the education and training 
systems, and in the economic arrangements of this country, you will find 
example after example after example after example where good, bright, 
creative people--who know what the problems are--are struggling with 
organizations which thwart their ability to deal with the world as it 
is.  This is one of our great challenges, my fellow Americans, and we 
must face it. 

With the end of the Cold War, we are trying to open billions of dollars 
worth of formerly restricted high-tech goods to export markets.  We are 
working to speed the conversion of companies, of workers, of communities 
from defense to commercially successful economies.  With the Vice 
President's leadership, we're rein-venting government and reducing 
bureaucracy.  We're about to reform our health care system in ways that 
will relieve businesses burdened by unfairly rising costs and provide 
security for families terrorized by uncertain coverage.  

All these steps to make our people and our nation better prepared to 
thrive in this competitive economy are important.  The beginning steps, 
while limited, are beginning to pay off.  The deficit has declined.  
Interest rates have been at historic lows.  Inflation rates remains low, 
while investment is increasing.  Housing costs have climbed for three 
straight months.  Employment is increasing.  In the first 10 months, 
there have been more private-sector job increases than in the previous 
four years.  To be sure, there is still much to do, but this is a good 
beginning.

Expanding Our Engagement
The second part of this strategy must be to expand the sweep of our 
engagement.  For decades, our foreign policy focused on containment of 
communism, a cause led by the United States and our European allies.  I 
want to emphasize this here today:  Europe remains at the core of our 
alliances.  It is a central partner for the United States in security, 
in foreign policy, and in commerce.  But as our concern shifts to 
economic challenges that are genuinely global, we must look across the 
Pacific as well as the Atlantic.  We must engage the world's fastest-
growing economies.  

Our support for NAFTA is a recognition not only that Mexico is our 
closest big neighbor and a very important part of our future but that 
Latin America is the second-fastest-growing part of the world and a part 
of the world increasingly embracing both democracy and free market 
economics--two things that have eluded that continent for too long.  The 
fastest-growing region, of course, is the Asia-Pacific, a region that 
has to be as vital for our future as it has been for our past. 

A lot of people forget that we began our existence as a nation as a 
Pacific power.  By the time of George Washington's inauguration, 
American ships were already visiting China.  In this century, we fought 
three major wars in the Pacific.  Thousands of our people still remain 
stationed in the region to provide stability and security in the armed 
services.  And our cultural bonds are profoundly strong.  There are now 
7 million American citizens of Asian descent.  

The Asia-Pacific has taken on an even greater importance as its economy 
has exploded.  It is a diverse region, spanning 16 time zones and having 
at least 20 different major languages and hundreds of dialects.  This is 
a region where many rice farmers still harvest their crops by hand, and 
yet it is the home to the world's fastest-growing cities.  Yet amid this 
great diversity, a distinct economy has emerged--built upon ancient 
cultures connected through decentralized business networks; linked by 
modern communications; and joined by common denominators of high 
investment, hard work, and creative entrepreneurship.  

What has happened to Asia in the past half-century is amazing and 
unprecedented.  Just three decades ago, Asia had only 8% of the world's 
GDP.  Today, it exceeds 25%.  These economies are growing at three times 
the rate of the established industrial nations.  In a short time, many 
of these economies have gone from being dominoes to dynamos, from minor 
powers racked by turmoil [applause]--yes, you can clap for them; it's 
true.  

The press will ask me at the end of this speech who gave me that phrase.  
It came from Winston Lord, our Assistant Secretary of State for East 
Asian and Pacific Affairs--he gives me good ideas, as well as good 
phrases.

This is a hopeful time.  For the first time in this century, no great 
military rivalry divides the Asia-Pacific region.  Active hostilities 
have yielded to possibilities for cooperation and gain.  Of course, the 
region still has problems and dangers.  Tens of millions of Asians still 
live on less than $1 a day.  There are territorial disputes, ethnic 
tensions, and weapons proliferation.  This sudden growth has led to 
serious environmental strains from smoke-choked cities to toxic dumping.  
And there are human rights abuses and repression which continue to 
affect millions of people throughout the region.

The economic explosion has been a source of anxiety for many Americans.  
Our workers are concerned that their jobs, their markets, are being lost 
to Asia.  Of the nations that are represented here, I believe we have a 
trade deficit with all but one.  The trade imbalances with Japan and 
China alone account for more than two-thirds of our total trade deficit.  
And we do have a trade deficit, as I said, with virtually every one of 
the nations.

Yet, ultimately, the growth of Asia can and should benefit our nation.  
Over the past five years, our exports to every one of these nations has 
increased by at least 50%.  Much of what Asia needs to continue in its 
growth pattern are goods and services in which we are strong:  aircraft, 
financial services, telecommunications, infrastructure, and others.  
Already, Asia is our largest trading partner.  Exports to Asia account 
for 2.5 million jobs here in America.  Increasing our share of that 
market by 1% would add 300,000 jobs to the American economy.  This is an 
effort worth making.

Of course, we must continue to press these nations to be more open to 
our products, as we are to theirs.  We've made a good start with the 
economic framework agreement with Japan, and I look forward to 
discussing the elements of that and the progress we can make with Prime 
Minister Hosokawa later today.

We're also determined to work with China to eliminate its trade barriers 
and to raise the issue of our continuing concern over human rights and 
weapons sales.  I look forward to doing all that when I meet with 
President Jiang today, in an effort to put our relationship with China 
on a more constructive path--but still one that deals with all of these 
issues that are important to the United States.

We do not intend to bear the cost of our military presence in Asia and 
the burdens of regional leadership only to be shut out of the benefits 
of growth that that stability brings.  It is not right.  It's not in the 
long-term interest of our Asian friends.  And, ultimately, it is a trade 
relationship that is simply not sustainable.  So we must use every means 
available in the Pacific, as elsewhere, to promote a more open world 
economy through global agreements, regional efforts, and negotiations 
with individual countries.

As we make these efforts, U.S. businesses must do more to reach out 
across the Pacific.  I know Seattle's business community understands the 
potential that lies in the Asia-Pacific region, but millions of our 
businesses do not.  We cannot have customers where we are not there to 
make the sale.  I want American businesses to see the opportunities, to 
hear the success stories not only here but all across the nation.  I 
want more American businesses to follow the examples of firms like H.F. 
Henderson Industries in West Callwell, New Jersey, which manufactures 
automatic weighing systems.  This small firm's sales to China, South 
Korea, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong have added over two dozen 
jobs to its payroll of 150.

You think about that.  If every company in America with 150 employees 
could add two dozen jobs by exports to Asia, we would have a much 
smaller unemployment problem in a very short time.  We have to do a 
better job of piercing those markets even as we press for them to be 
opened.

In July, I made my first trip over-seas to Asia as President.  During 
that trip, I proposed this leaders' meeting and described a vision of a 
New Pacific Community to underscore the importance we place on working 
for shared prosperity, security, and democracy.  As I said earlier, the 
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, our Trade Representative-
-they've all come to Seattle; all are going to give major speeches here; 
all are going to make our presence felt.  We want to be a partner with 
all of the other nations that are here in making this New Pacific 
Community.

Developing New Institutional Arrangements
But as I said earlier about our problems here at home with the 
unemployment system, you could also say the same thing about the 
international system.  We have to develop new institutional arrangements 
that support our national economic and security interests 
internationally.

If you look at the end of World War II and the success that flowed from 
it, that didn't happen by accident.  Visionaries like Harry Truman and 
George Marshall, George Kennan, Dean Acheson, and Averell Harriman 
worked with other nations to build institutions like NATO, the IMF, the 
World Bank, and the GATT process.  We take it for granted now, but it 
took them a few years to put this together.  And it wasn't self-evident 
at the time that it had to be done.  A lot of people thought it was a 
waste of time or effort, and others thought that it would never work.  
Still others thought that it wasn't even a good idea.  But these people 
had the vision to see that collective security, expanded trade, and 
growth around the world were in the interest of the ordinary American 
citizen.

We now have to bring the same level of vision to this time of change.  
We've done that through our vote for NAFTA.  We will do so again at the 
NATO summit this January, where I will recommend a new Partnership for 
Peace to draw Central and Eastern Europe toward our community of 
security.  And we're working to build a prosperous and peaceful Asia-
Pacific region through our work here with APEC.

This is still a young organization.  I want to salute those who had the 
vision to establish it, such as former Australian Prime Minister Robert 
Hawke and others, including President Bush and those in his 
Administration who wanted to host this regional leaders' meeting in 
Washington State.  But I want to say also that we now must imagine what 
this organization should be in the 21st century.

APEC's Future
Over time, there is a lot we may be able to do through this organization 
that no one ever thought about before.  It could become a forum for 
considering development priorities in Asia, for working with the Asian 
Development Bank to assure that all can share in the region's economic 
growth.  It could help focus attention on barriers to trade and growth.  
It could evolve into a forum for dispute resolution on economic matters.  
The mission of this organization is not to create a bureaucracy that can 
frustrate economic growth but to help build connections among economies 
to promote economic growth.  Although we are still only formulating 
APEC's agenda, we can speculate what some of those connections might be.

This organization, for example, could help set up common 
telecommunications standards so firms won't need a different product 
design for each separate country.  It could help us move toward an open 
skies agreement that could lower fares for airline passengers and cargo 
and provide greater consumer choices over routes.  It could promote 
solutions to the environmental problems of this populous and energy-
devouring region--problems that are truly staggering today--so that we 
could guarantee that a polluted quality of life does not undermine a 
rising standard of living.  

Protecting the Pacific environment also can be a particular source of 
American business opportunities.  Asia's purchases of environmental 
equipment likely will rise by $40 billion by the end of this decade.  
And our nation, which has pioneered many of those technologies, should 
be there to claim a large share of that market.

APEC can complement our nation's other efforts to open world trade.  It 
can provide a counterbalance to our bilateral and global efforts.  If we 
encounter obstacles in a bilateral negotiation, we should be able to 
appeal to other APEC members to help us resolve the disputes.  If our 
efforts to secure global trade agreements falter, then APEC still offers 
us a way to expand markets within this, the fastest-growing region of 
the globe.

I expect this first meeting of APEC leaders to focus on getting 
acquainted and on sharing perspectives.  Whatever we do must be done in 
a spirit of genuine partnership and mutual respect in the interest of 
all the nations involved.  This cannot be a U.S. show; this has got to 
be an Asia-Pacific combined partnership.

Nonetheless, I believe it is our obligation to propose some tangible 
steps to move forward.  We will propose that Secretary Bentsen organize 
a meeting of APEC's finance ministers to advance our dialogue on the 
broad issues affecting economic growth.  We will propose the formation 
of an Asia-Pacific business roundtable to promote greater discussion 
within the region's private sectors.  We will ask the leaders to endorse 
the establishment of an Asia-Pacific education foundation to promote 
understanding and a sense of community among our region's young people.  
These first steps are small, but we should not understate or 
underestimate the scope of the journey that they could begin.

Today we take for granted the importance of many institutions that 
seemed unlikely when they were first created.  For example, we can't 
imagine now how we could have weathered the Cold War without NATO.  In 
the same way, future generations may look back and say they can't 
imagine how the Asia-Pacific region could have thrived in such a spirit 
of harmony without the existence of APEC.  Even though this organization 
is in its infancy and its first leaders' meeting is not intended to make 
decisions, we should not hesitate to think boldly about where such 
efforts could lead. 

For this organization, these meetings and these relationships we are 
forging today can lead our members toward shared expectations about our 
common responsibilities and our common future.  Even now, we can begin 
to imagine what a New Pacific Community might look like by the end of 
this decade--and that's not very far away.

Imagine an Asia-Pacific region in which robust and open economic 
competition is a source of jobs and opportunity without becoming a 
source of hostility and instability, a source of resentment or 
unfairness.  Imagine a region in which the diversity of our economies 
remains a source of dynamism and enrichment, just as the diversity of 
our own people in America makes our nation more vibrant and resilient.  
Imagine this region in which newly emerging economic freedoms are 
matched by greater individual freedoms, political freedoms, and human 
rights; a region in which all nations--all nations--enjoy those human 
rights and free elections.

In such a future, we could see Japan fast becoming a model of political 
reform as well as an economic colossus, pursuing policies that enable 
our economic relations to be a source of greater mutual benefit and 
mutual satisfaction to our peoples.  We could see China expressing the 
greatness and power of its people and its culture by playing a 
constructive regional and global leadership role while moving toward 
greater internal liberalization.  We could see Vietnam more integrated 
into the region's economic and political life after providing the 
fullest possible accounting of those Americans who did not return from 
the war there.

We could even see a Korean Peninsula that no longer braces for war but 
that lives in peace and security because its people--both North and 
South--have decided on the terms of reunification.  We could see a 
region where weapons of mass destruction are not among the exports and 
where security and stability are assured by mutual strength, respect, 
and cooperation; a region in which diverse cultures and economies show 
their common wisdom and humanity by joining to preserve the glory of the 
Pacific environment for future generations.

Conclusion
Such goals extend beyond tomorrow's agenda.  But they must not lie 
beyond our vision.  This week, our nation has proved a willingness to 
reach out in the face of change to further the cause of progress.  Now 
we must do so again.  We must reach out to the economies of the Pacific.  
We must work with them to build a better future for our people and for 
theirs.  At this moment in history, that is our solemn responsibility 
and our great opportunity.  Thank you very much.  (###)



ARTICLE 2:

America's Pacific Future
Secretary Christopher
Address at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, November 
17, 1993

Thank you for that introduction, Professor Lardy.  I want to thank the 
World Affairs Council and the Jackson School for having me here today.  
Scoop Jackson believed that America derived strength from its 
willingness to engage abroad, and he would be proud of the work being 
done here in his name.

One hundred and thirty-two years ago, the University of Washington was 
carved out of Seattle's emerald wilderness by a band of hardy and 
intellectually hungry pioneers.  The first faculty consisted of one 
professor; the first graduating class, one student.

From those simple origins on that rugged frontier, the University of 
Washington has become one of America's great public universities.  I 
want to acknowledge, in that regard, my longtime friend Bill Gerberding, 
President of this university.

Today, another frontier beckons.  And Seattle stands not at the end of 
the trail but at the beginning.  As we approach the next century, 
America must once again look west--west to Asia, west to our Pacific 
future. 

In the 19th century, American visionaries connected the coasts with 
great iron railroads.  Now, with the ethereal reach of satellites and 
the blinding speed of fiber optics, we are traversing the Pacific.  With 
the same determination that brought trains to Washington State, we are 
building bonds of communication, commerce, and culture with Asia.

Signs of our Pacific future are sprouting here like espresso stands.  
Trade with Asia accounts for 95% of the volume of Seattle's bustling 
ports.  A quarter of the city's schoolchildren are Asian-Americans.  
Pike Place Market overflows with the scents, flavors, and dialects of 
the Pacific Rim.  And in every sector--from aircraft to software to real 
estate--Seattle's economy is increasingly tied to Asia's.

My message today is simple:  As Seattle goes, so must the nation.  As 
Asia advances, so must we.  For, today, no region in the world is more 
important to the United States than Asia.

America has fought three wars in Asia during the past half-century.  We 
have abiding security interests there.  As to our economic interests, 
40% of our trade is with Asia, half again as much as with Europe.  And 
every day, immigrants from Asia and their descendants are fulfilling the 
American dream, enriching our culture and maintaining tangible ties 
across an ocean of opportunity.

Just over a generation ago, when many of these immigrants were first 
arriving on American shores, Asia seemed mired in a cycle of epic 
suffering.  But a new determinism pervades Asia now.  Despair about 
decay has given way to faith in progress.

In southern China, towns that were once agrarian backwaters are leaping 
forward into the industrial age.  In Singapore's gleaming harbor, where 
laborers once carried sacks of rice on their backs, enormous cranes now 
swivel and stretch to unload high-technology cargo.  And in the towering 
skyscrapers of Jakarta, Indonesians born in bamboo huts are making 
fortunes in Asian commodity markets.

Like Mount Rainier, Asia's astounding revival and the challenges it 
presents are best viewed from a panoramic perspective.  Asia is likely 
to account for half the growth in world trade between now and the year 
2000.  It includes the world's fastest-growing economies and most 
promising terrain for American exports.  But at the same time, we are 
running unacceptable trade deficits with some of our Asian trading 
partners.

In security terms, Asia is more stable--and, if you will, more pacific--
than at any other time since the turn of the century.  But at the same 
time, we need to meet new security challenges that cloud the horizon.

Across the region, the rising tide of democracy is watering some of 
freedom's most parched terrain.  But at the same time, some of the 
world's least open regimes can also be found in Asia.

As we look ahead, then, we must remove the peril and realize the promise 
of wider engagement with the Pacific.  That is why President Clinton has 
called for a New Pacific Community, built on three core elements:  
shared prosperity, shared strength, and a shared commitment to 
democratic values.

I.  Prosperity
Let me turn first to the economic dimension.  In Asia, we see most 
clearly that economic policy stands at the center of our foreign policy.  
Last year, our exports to the region totaled $128 billion and created 
2.4 million American jobs.

This Administration is working to widen trade and investment in Asia on 
three levels:  globally, through the GATT; regionally, through the APEC 
forum; and bilaterally, with individual nations.

No region has more at stake than Asia in the removal of barriers to 
global trade and investment.  Asia has asked us to remain engaged in the 
region, and we will do so.  But for the American people to appreciate 
the benefits of such engagement, Asia's markets must be open to our 
goods and services. 

Today I urge the leaders of the Asian economies to join us in pushing 
for a successful conclusion of the GATT Uruguay Round.  If the round 
succeeds, it will open markets and create jobs around the world.  If it 
fails, however, we will all suffer from the punishing effects of rising 
protectionism.

While we work to open global trade, we must also strengthen our regional 
trading ties.  Today's historic vote on NAFTA is a test of our 
willingness to do that.  It is a test of our desire to compete rather 
than retreat.

NAFTA, as the President and I have been saying, is in our overriding 
national interest.  It takes down barriers to prosperity.  It 
demonstrates that as we enter the next century, America is looking 
outward, not turning inward.  That is why the President has put so much 
on the line for NAFTA's passage.  And that is why I believe the House of 
Representatives will approve NAFTA today.

APEC, the forum for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, is another vital 
part of our strategy to strengthen regional trading ties.  APEC was 
created only four years ago--not to micromanage trade but to get 
bureaucracy out of the way of business and to promote cooperation among 
diverse economies.

This year's meeting here in Seattle, to be followed by President 
Clinton's historic gathering of APEC leaders, is dedicated to expanding 
Pacific trade and investment.  We will begin to bring greater harmony to 
the trade policies of APEC members.  We will work to facilitate the 
entry of American businesses into Asian markets.  And we will work to 
strengthen APEC as an institution.

In the software business today, "open architecture" is the coin of the 
realm.  That, in essence, is what my colleagues and I are developing:  
an open environment in which we can increase by many times the $500 
billion in trade among APEC members.

But let me be clear:  APEC is a building block, not a trading bloc.  The 
United States views APEC as the cornerstone of regional economic 
cooperation.  These regional efforts, in turn, are a catalyst for global 
trade cooperation.

At the same time, the Clinton Administration is working to strengthen 
some of our most important bilateral economic relationships in Asia.  
China, one of America's largest trading partners, has a trade surplus 
with the United States that reached nearly $20 billion last year.  To 
address this problem, we are working with the Chinese to achieve full 
implementation of our market access agreements.  In South Korea, we have 
launched a new dialogue that will improve the trade and investment 
climate for U.S. businesses.  And with Japan, we are negotiating a new 
economic framework.  

The security and political dimensions of our partnership with Japan are 
in sound condition.  But the economic pillar is urgently in need of 
repair.  This Administration attaches as high a priority to improving 
our economic ties with Japan as it does to maintaining our security and 
political links.  That is why we are working to correct our persistent 
trade imbalance.  We are determined to forge a more equitable and 
mutually beneficial partnership.

II.  Security
Ultimately, all our efforts to advance American prosperity in Asia 
depend on the peace and security of the region.  America's continued 
security engagement is, therefore, the second core component of our New 
Pacific Community.

I was a 20-year-old Navy ensign--the same age as many of you here today-
-when World War II and its aftermath first linked America to the 
security of the Pacific.  Today, the reasons for us to stay anchored in 
Asia have changed.  But they are still compelling.  For it remains in 
our unambiguous national interest to deter regional aggression and to 
sustain Asia-Pacific economic growth.

While the tensions of the Cold War have subsided, many Asian nations 
harbor apprehensions about their closest neighbors.  An American 
withdrawal would magnify those concerns.  And so America must stay 
engaged.

Our security role in Asia begins with our treaty alliances with Japan, 
South Korea, Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines.  We will honor 
these obligations and maintain our forward military presence throughout 
the Pacific.

At the same time, we are working in Asia to prevent the proliferation of 
weapons of mass destruction.  Nowhere is the threat of nuclear 
proliferation more serious today than in North Korea.

North Korea is caught in a kind of time warp.  It is the most isolated 
country in the world, unmoved by the winds of change that have swept 
across the region.  It has buried the economic dreams of its people to 
raise a million-man army, most of which is deployed at South Korea's 
doorstep.

The other nations of the region share President Clinton's firm view that 
North Korea must set aside its nuclear ambitions.  It must not be 
allowed to pose a nuclear threat to South Korea or its other neighbors.

North Korea has refused to grant international inspectors full access to 
its nuclear sites.  The United States is committed to a diplomatic 
solution as the best means of resolving the nuclear issue.  At the same 
time, we insist on North Korea's full compliance with all of its 
international commitments, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty.  North Korea must fulfill its fullscope safeguards obligations 
and permit the inspections required by the International Atomic Energy 
Agency.  North Korea must also fulfill its denuclearization agreement 
with South Korea.

These are not only the views of the United States; they are the views of 
the world community.  We are not approaching this on a unilateral basis.  
We are working with others in the region.

If North Korea refuses the necessary inspections--and refuses to resume 
a dialogue with South Korea on nuclear issues--then we are prepared to 
recommend that the UN Security Council consider options other than 
negotiation.  This need not be the outcome of this impasse.  We urge 
North Korea to join the community of responsible nations by responding 
positively to the comments I have made here today.

As we work to resolve the impasse with North Korea, we must also develop 
new regional approaches to prevent conflicts.  That is why at the ASEAN 
Post-Ministerial Conference last July, my fellow ministers and I 
established the ASEAN Regional Security Forum.  This forum will 
supplement, but not replace, our treaty alliances.  These security 
discussions will ease tensions and discourage arms races.  It will 
include the ASEAN nations, the United States, Japan, Canada, South 
Korea, Australia, and others.  It will also include--mark this--China, 
Russia, and Vietnam.

Ten years ago, or even five, such an array of countries would have been 
unthinkable.  Next year, it will be a reality.

III.  Democracy
Just as security is the bedrock for the pursuit of prosperity, so 
democracy is the foundation for security.  More open societies make for 
a more stable region.  Democratic nations make better neighbors and 
better trading partners.  That is why the support of democracy and human 
rights is the third core element of our New Pacific Community.

President Clinton has said that "free markets not only enrich people; 
they empower them."  As more Asians enter the middle class, they will 
seek a greater voice in their communities.  As factories bloom across 
China, political power will come increasingly from the end of an 
assembly line.

Greater openness will also help sustain modernization in Asia.  After 
all, how can countries attract investment without the rule of law?  How 
can they combat corruption without a free press?  How can they generate 
prosperity without constant currents of information?

There are those who say that democracy is somehow unsuited for Asia, 
that our emphasis on human rights is a cloak for cultural imperialism.  
But there is no cloak over the city of Phnom Penh, where Cambodians 
voted this spring in their first free election.  There is no cloak over 
Seoul, where former dissident Kim Young Sam is now Korea's President.  
Nor, indeed, is there a cloak over Shanghai, where a talk show called 
"Radio Orient" receives thousands of calls and letters every day.

To be sure, great areas of Asia lag behind the march of history.  But 
the yearnings for freedom are not a Western export.  They are a human 
instinct.  All across Asia, the United States is working to respond to 
those yearnings.  We are, in short, aligning ourselves with the future.

Human rights is a key issue in our relations with several Asian 
countries, including Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia, and China.  The Clinton 
Administration has developed a policy toward China that reflects both 
our values and our interests.  China is a great nation and an 
influential member of the world community.  A stable, prosperous China 
is in the long-term interest of the United States.

Recent problems have created the risk of a downward spiral in our 
relationship.  On human rights, unless there is overall, significant 
progress, the President will not be able to renew China's most-favored-
nation status.  We are encouraged by Beijing's recent offer to open its 
prisons to the International Red Cross.  We hope that is a harbinger of 
sustained progress on human rights in China.

On trade, we continue to have concerns about market access, textiles, 
and intellectual property protection.  And on non-proliferation, we have 
imposed sanctions on China for its shipment of M-11 missile components 
to Pakistan.  At the same time, we have made clear that we are willing 
to negotiate the necessary conditions for a waiver of those sanctions. 

And so we have launched a process of deeper engagement with China to 
make progress in these key areas.  Our goal, I emphasize, is to build a 
comprehensive relationship that permits the resolution of our 
differences.

Conclusion
Many of the issues that can bring together the New Pacific Community are 
global issues--challenges that cut across political borders.  Consider, 
for example, the environmental problems that Asia, with its huge 
appetite for energy sources, will face in the next century.  Consider 
that 20 years from now, 1 billion more people will live in Asia alone.

Problems like these demand transnational solutions.  That is why this 
Administration has brought global issues into the mainstream of our 
foreign policy.

Recently, I passed by Red Square--the one in Moscow, that is--to give a 
speech to Russian students.  They, like many of you, are wary of 
sweeping proclamations about "our moment in history."  But your 
generation--whether in Moscow or Seattle or Beijing--truly stands at a 
pivotal point, between the Cold War and a new millennium.  For Russia's 
youth, the question is whether to believe in free markets and democratic 
reform.  For you, the question is simpler:  whether to believe in 
yourselves.

Over the last several years, some Americans have worried that Asia's 
success spells trouble for the United States.  They look at Japan's 
performance, or China's incredible growth, or the ferocious development 
of Asia's "four tigers," and they have feared that America's best days 
are behind us.

I see it altogether differently.  Asia's success is ours, too--because 
Asia's dynamism creates enormous new markets for our products; because 
for a half-century our engagement has supported regional stability; and 
because Asia's drive toward freedom echoes the enduring strength of our 
values.

I look at the flower of Asian prosperity, and I see the seeds of 
American renewal.  The virtues that have made America great--thrift, 
diligence, optimism, resilience--must guide us again as we rebuild 
America's economy and engage ever more vigorously with Asia.

Can we summon the confidence to do that?  Can we muster the courage to 
seize this opportunity?  From Lewis and Clark's expedition to the first 
flight of a Boeing airplane, everything in our history suggests that we 
can.

And everything in our future--our Pacific future--says that we must.

Thank you very much.   (###)



ARTICLE 3:

APEC:  Charting a Course for Prosperity
Secretary Christopher
Opening statement at a news conference, Washington, DC, November 15, 
1993

I will be leaving tomorrow for Seattle to chair the fifth ministerial of 
the forum on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.  Immediately following 
the ministerial, the President will host a historic meeting of the APEC 
economic leaders.  These meetings highlight the importance of the Asia-
Pacific region and underscore the fact that this Administration has 
placed economic policy at the heart of its foreign policy.

Ten days ago, I set forth the Administration's six strategic foreign 
policy priorities in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee.  I placed economic security first, and I did so deliberately.  
There is no bright line dividing foreign policy from domestic economic 
policy.  Our strength at home and our engagement abroad are interlocking 
and mutually reinforcing.  We are pursuing policies that spur growth and 
create American jobs, and that's part of our overall economic security 
strategy.

As one of our six strategic priorities, I also emphasized the importance 
the Administration attaches to the Asia-Pacific region.  APEC's 
membership includes the world's most dynamic economies, which produce 
half the world's economic output.

Asia is our largest trading partner.  Our exports to Asia and the 
Pacific in 1992 totaled nearly $130 billion.  This accounted for 2.4 
million American jobs.  Our trade with this region is 50% greater than 
our total trade with Europe.  

No region is more important to the United States and its future than 
Asia and the Pacific.  Asia's importance does not stem from trade flows 
alone, however impressive those are.  America is a Pacific nation, and 
our stake in the region is enormous.  We will be a full participant in 
the Asia-Pacific region as it plays an increasingly important global 
role.  That is why President Clinton made his first trip overseas to 
Asia, and that is why I have been to Asia three times in the short nine 
months that I've been in office. 

A core element of our policy in Asia, of course, is our security role.  
We remain unyielding in our commitment to maintain our Asia-Pacific 
forward military basing and to meet our solemn treaty commitments to 
five of the leading nations in the Asia-Pacific area. 

Let me mention a couple of countries specifically.  China and Japan are, 
clearly, major players in the region.  The cornerstone of our Asia-
Pacific policy remains our relationship with Japan.  The President seeks 
to shape a partnership with Japan that will place our economic ties on 
as sound and cooperative a basis as we have established for security, 
political, and global issues.  We are negotiating a new framework with 
Japan to correct our unacceptable trade imbalance.  With regard to 
China, we are working to create a comprehensive relationship that 
permits resolution of differences in a broad, strategic context.  We are 
actively working to make strides in areas of continuing concern, 
including human rights, non-proliferation, and trade abuse.

This Administration is placing a special emphasis on developing a 
regional approach so as to construct with others the President's vision 
of a New Pacific Community built on shared strength, shared prosperity, 
and a shared commitment to democratic values.  This is why the meetings 
in Seattle are so important.  In a letter the President sent to the 
Asian economic leaders, he asked them to work with him to try to find 
ways to meet the economic challenges of the 21st century.  The President 
has invited these leaders to Seattle so they can work together to have a 
positive impact on global economic growth so America can achieve future 
prosperity.

The ministerial meeting also can help chart the course for a more 
dynamic future for the Asia-Pacific region.  The Declaration on an APEC  
Trade and Investment Framework can provide a blueprint for economic 
relations within the region.

We will be hearing the report of the Eminent Persons Group and will be 
looking to consider their recommendations for long-term initiatives to 
expand trade.  There should be agreement on additional specific work 
plans in areas such as telecommunications and transportation--work plans 
that can help American business and lead to additional jobs.

This week's meeting represents an important first step toward a more 
open, liberal trading regime linking the United States and the Asia-
Pacific nations.  We are in the early stages of this effort, and APEC is 
in its early years as an organization.  Achieving the kind of open 
architecture that I've spoken about for trade and investment ties 
throughout the region clearly will take time.  It will not be done 
overnight.  It will be an evolutionary process that will reflect the 
consensual progress that has marked ASEAN and the early years of APEC.  
But what is important is that the United States lead this historic 
movement toward open markets and trade--and that certainly will be our 
objective this week.

Over the next 30 days, two events--in addition to the APEC meetings in 
Seattle--will shape our economic future.  The first is the vote in 
Congress on NAFTA.  Approving NAFTA means choosing American leadership 
and competitiveness and rejecting isolationism and protectionism.  
Approving NAFTA will clearly strengthen our influence at a time when we 
are working to boost global growth through trade expansion.

The second event is the December 15 final deadline for concluding the 
Uruguay Round.  APEC has worked consistently to move these negotiations 
forward.  I'm very confident that this week's meetings--both the 
ministerial meeting and the leaders' meeting on Saturday--will produce a 
strong and urgent call to complete this round--and to complete it on 
time and in a way that will provide for a more open trading system.

Two of our highest foreign policy priorities--economic security and the 
Asia-Pacific region--converge this week in Seattle.  Our role in shaping 
the future of this region helps secure our future prosperity.  Through 
our leadership in hosting this APEC conference, we are advancing 
President Clinton's program for America's economic renewal.  (###)



ARTICLE 4:

Developing APEC as a Platform for Prosperity
Secretary Christopher
Remarks at the welcoming dinner for APEC delegates, Seattle, Washington, 
November 17, 1993

Thank you for that kind introduction, Mr. George.  Fellow ministers, 
APEC delegates, Governor Lowry, Senator Gorton, Mayor Rice, and guests:  
I am honored to address this distinguished group.

I would like to offer sincere thanks to the Washington Council on 
International Trade and the corporate sponsors, who have not only given 
us tonight's delicious dinner but have done so much to make this 
ministerial meeting in Seattle possible.  Their work is illustrative of 
the important and helpful role the business community has played in 
APEC.  I want very much to encourage even greater business involvement 
in all aspects of APEC's work.

These wonderful aircraft symbolize the ties between the Asia-Pacific 
region and the United States--across boundaries of time, geography, and 
culture.  Since the age of the China Clippers, America has been a 
Pacific nation.  Our connections to Asia grow ever more important as the 
rest of America catches on to what Seattle and the west coast have known 
for years:  Our futures are linked across an ocean of opportunity.

This museum also looks to the future.  We in APEC need to ensure that 
the region's economies are able to take full advantage of the 
possibilities of our age.  In the midst of the great economic explosion 
in Asia and the Pacific, APEC was created four years ago--not to 
micromanage economic relations but to get bureaucracy out of the way of 
business.

People in the business sector, like our hosts, have been the engines 
powering Pacific Rim economies:  making capital investments, introducing 
new technologies, and creating jobs.  APEC is designed to help business-
-by removing barriers to trade and investment and by encouraging 
stronger links in such areas as telecommunications and transportation.

These APEC meetings come at a moment of extraordinary opportunity to 
open markets and spur global growth.  Over the next 30 days, three 
defining events will shape our economic future.

The first event is tonight's historic vote by the House of 
Representatives to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement.  The 
vote tonight was not just a dramatic moment but a defining one.  The 
action taken by the House is a vote of confidence in America's future.  
It demonstrates that the United States chooses leadership and rejects 
isolation; that we choose competitiveness and reject protectionism.  
This vote sends a message to Americans from Seattle to Miami that we 
will create jobs at home by expanding exports to our North American 
neighbors.

This vote sends a message to Mexico City and to other Latin American and 
Caribbean capitals that the U.S. will stay engaged and support the great 
process of political and economic reform in this hemisphere.  And this 
vote sends a message to Geneva, where negotiations on the Uruguay Round 
of the GATT must conclude within a month.  The United States remains 
fully committed to opening markets and creating the global economic 
growth that will lift the living standards of all nations.

The NAFTA vote lends further strength to APEC's support for more open 
trade and investment.  We should harness the momentum of NAFTA as we 
consider the second event--the GATT Uruguay Round.

A successful Uruguay Round will open markets, spur growth, and create 
new jobs.  Failure of the round will mean economies stifled by declining 
growth and rising protectionism.  The United States remains firmly 
committed to winning a broad, liberalizing agreement on the time 
schedule established by Congress--December 15.  There will be no 
December 16 for the Uruguay Round.

The trade-offs to complete the Uruguay Round will not be easy, but they 
must be made.  This opportunity to revive global economic growth is in 
the national interest of each of the members of APEC, and it is in our 
mutual interest.  The opportunity must not be lost.

APEC has consistently worked to move the Uruguay Round forward.  I am 
confident that, at this ministerial meeting, we will come together to 
issue a strong and urgent call to conclude the Uruguay Round--and to do 
so successfully.

The third event in this vital 30-day period begins today, with the 
commencement of the APEC ministerial.

The United States attaches tremendous importance to its relationship 
with the Asia-Pacific region.  Not only is Asia our largest trading 
partner, with trade about 50% greater than our trade with Europe, but we 
are bound to Asia by our strong commitment to regional security and by 
profound personal ties.

This morning, in a speech at the University of Washington, I described 
the President's vision of a New Pacific Community based on shared 
strength, shared prosperity, and a shared commitment to democratic 
values.  This Administration is placing special emphasis on developing 
regional approaches to build--along with others--that new community.

APEC is a regional approach to economic issues.  Trade and investment 
within the region are weaving a new web of human and commercial 
relationships.  APEC can help develop these networks and create the 
infrastructure that will build a community out of this far-flung and 
diverse region.

That is why this week's meetings are so important.  APEC ministers can 
approve the proposed Declaration on a Trade and Investment Framework.  
The report of the Eminent Persons Group can give us a blueprint for 
expanding trade and economic relations over the long term.  We can agree 
on specific plans for the working groups that will provide practical 
help for all businesses.

These will all be important steps toward a more open trading regime 
among the members of APEC.  We are only in the early stages of this 
effort, just as APEC is in its early years as an organization.  
Achieving an "open architecture" for trade and investment across the 
region will be an evolutionary process.  So even as we work on this 
week's agenda, we should be looking ahead.  The United States believes 
APEC should focus on three areas for the future.

First, it should promote open trade and investment in the region.  This 
is APEC's original task--and must be its most enduring one.

Second, it should enhance cooperation on regional issues that require 
regional solutions, such as energy and the environment.  This will help 
the region adapt to the demands--and the consequences--of its stunning 
economic growth.

And third, it should improve the networks and the regional 
infrastructure that bind us together.

It is this third dimension that I want to emphasize this evening--the 
concept of networking.  APEC is the first regional organization founded 
in the information age.  As you know, personal computers used to stand 
alone.  Now they and their users are tied into larger networks, all the 
while retaining their individuality.  In the same way, we envision a 
Pacific community increasingly linked through telecommunications, 
transportation, capital flows, and human contacts.  APEC can help to 
make that happen.

We already communicate instantaneously across more than a dozen time 
zones.  Fiber optic cables are being laid across the Pacific, linking 
Asia's financial markets and bringing Asian countries closer to one 
another--and to us.  Star TV, broadcast from Hong Kong, has a satellite 
footprint covering most of Asia.  CNN is accessible--and regularly 
accessed--throughout the region.

The next step could be the development of an Asia-Pacific "superhighway" 
using fiber optics and satellite technology to convey information.  We 
should make sure that we communicate quickly and easily--whether by 
phone, FAX, or computer.

In this room, with the original Boeing aircraft on display, it is 
astounding to think that it has been routine for years to fly non-stop 
from Seattle to Tokyo.  The phenomenal growth of passenger and freight 
traffic is straining the system.  We need to expand air routes, 
modernize facilities, and relieve transportation bottlenecks.  APEC is 
already at work on these problems.

Two of America's most important foreign policy priorities--economic 
policy and the Asia-Pacific region--are converging at these meetings.  
When  he invited the region's economic leaders to Seattle, President 
Clinton asked that they define a vision that will shape the 21st 
century.  He and I are convinced that APEC's members will contribute 
ideas, technology, and managerial expertise that will lead the world 
economy into the next century.

The President and I are, of course, committed to advancing America's 
interests.  APEC's work benefits American businesses and the American 
people.  But the work we undertake together, through APEC, also benefits 
each and every member--their businesses and their people.  It is a true 
harmony of interests.

APEC can become the vehicle for sustained regional cooperation.  We want 
an organization every bit as dynamic as the region itself.  As we begin 
our work, therefore, let us ensure that APEC retains its commitment to 
open regionalism--that it is a building block, not a trading bloc.  Let 
us ensure that APEC remains diverse and inclusive--an open network, not 
a closed club.

Let me leave you with a challenge.  To those of you in business, I say:  
Seize the opportunities before you in Asia and the Pacific--and tell  us 
how APEC can help you.  And to my fellow APEC ministers, I say:  Let us 
continue to develop APEC as a platform for our common prosperity.  (###)



ARTICLE 5:

APEC:  A Forum To Boost Trade and Investment
Secretary Christopher
Remarks at the opening session of the fifth APEC ministerial meeting, 
Seattle, Washington, November 18, 1993

I would like to warmly welcome our two new members--Mexico and Papua New 
Guinea.  I welcome you to the forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation entity.  We have also decided, based upon yesterday's 
events, that Chile will become a member in 1994, and we look forward to 
welcoming Chile at that time.

As another result of yesterday's discussions, we have agreed that there 
will be a three-year period of deferral of the consideration of any new 
members to allow us to consolidate our efforts and to consider the issue 
of new members.  So those three matters of consensus were reached 
yesterday.  I thought I would announce that before we begin our 
proceedings today.

Now if I can open the meeting today by a few welcoming remarks.  I 
welcome you formally but also in a very warm and informal spirit to 
Seattle and to this fifth forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 
entity and our ministerial meeting.

In 1776, the year of America's birth, the famous American essayist, 
Thomas Paine, wrote:  

Not a place upon earth might be so happy as America.  Her situation is 
remote from all the wrangling  world, and she has nothing to do but to 
trade with them.

Paine's assumption that happiness would be increased by trade was 
certainly prophetic.  But the isolation that he treasured is not 
consistent with successful trade relationships.  Trade relationships, as 
we all know, require constant and vigorous attention and engagement, and 
that is one of the main purposes of this organization.

For the United States and for all the economies represented here, this 
APEC conference is a prime opportunity for that kind of engagement. APEC 
can serve not only as a vehicle for our common prosperity but as a forum 
for cooperation across a broad range of regional and global issues.

President Clinton and I have put economic security at the very heart of 
American foreign policy, and no part of the world is more important to 
economic well-being than the Asia-Pacific region.

As a Pacific nation ourselves, we are committed to expanding our ties 
with Asia, and that is why we attach such great importance to APEC and 
to this meeting.  We are very fortunate to have an opportunity to host 
it in the first year of President Clinton's Administration.

APEC's work to liberalize regional trade certainly advances American 
interests.  But the work we undertake here advances the interests of 
each and every one of the members.  It is this harmony of interests that 
makes APEC such a useful and constructive organization.  

Let me say just a few words about the specific purposes of this meeting.  
This year's ministerial is dedicated to expanding the flow of Pacific 
trade and investment.  We will discuss the many ways that our diverse 
economies can work together.  The Declaration on an APEC Trade and 
Investment Framework, which we will consider for adoption, is the result 
of a year-long consultation by APEC senior officials.  It incorporates 
ideas from all of you around the room, and it represents a significant 
and welcome step forward, I believe, by APEC as an institution.

Yesterday's historic vote approving NAFTA gives our work here today an 
added sense of urgency.  The vote last night was not just a dramatic 
moment--which perhaps some of you saw on television--but, as the 
President said, it was also a defining moment.  It sent a message 
throughout the region that the United States remains committed to open 
trade and to global growth.

Let me emphasize and state my view as firmly as I can that neither NAFTA 
nor APEC is a trading bloc. They are building blocks.  All of us here 
are committed to an open global trading system that will spur economic 
growth, create jobs, and increase the prosperity and welfare of all our 
citizens.  So I urge everyone here today to act on that commitment by 
pushing for a successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round by the December 
15 deadline.    I hope this ministerial will issue a strong and urgent 
call to win broad and liberalizing agreement in the GATT negotiations.

At our meeting today, we will also hear a report from the Eminent 
Persons Group that will give us a blueprint for opening trade and 
widening our economic contacts.  We also will assess the work of the 
APEC working groups and discuss the vision statements that have been 
prepared by those groups.  Let me say just a further word about the 
working groups.  They have worked to analyze a number of important 
problems:  regional transportation bottlenecks, telecommunications 
links, ways to standardize trade data, ways to promote commercial 
exchanges, and ways to share information on environmentally sound 
technologies--all tasks that are important for our region and vital for 
long-term economic progress.

One of the highest priorities we have in this week's discussions is to 
find ways to involve the private sector more actively in APEC's work.  
It is ultimately the business community that will drive the region's 
growth and prosperity, and it behooves us to find ways to involve 
private businesses, many of whom, I am glad to say, are here in the room 
and many of whom we saw last night.  They are dedicated to helping us 
make APEC work.  As I said last night, it is our view that APEC should 
focus on three areas.  I will not repeat them at length, but let me just 
tick them off briefly.

First, we should promote open trade and investment in the region.  That 
was APEC's original purpose and no doubt is our most enduring task.

Second, we should enhance cooperation on regional issues that require 
regional solutions, issues such as energy and the environment.  

And, third, we should improve regional networks and infrastructures that 
bind us together.  

In that cooperative spirit and forward-looking view, President Clinton 
has invited the APEC economic leaders to an informal session on 
Saturday.  He told me yesterday, when we were talking about the NAFTA 
vote, how much he looked forward to that meeting and to participating in 
this APEC endeavor.  This, of course, will mark the first time that 
these leaders have met to discuss long-term economic opportunities and 
challenges we face.

The President and I are convinced that APEC's members will contribute  
ideas, technology, and managerial expertise that will lead the world 
economy into the next century.  Benjamin Franklin, one of the great 
founding members of the United States and a contemporary of Thomas 
Paine, once observed that no nation was ever ruined by trade.  If I 
could take the liberty of updating that remark, I would say that no 
great nation can succeed without trade.  Every economy here is proof of 
the importance of trade.

So, together, let us expand our trade and advance our common prosperity, 
starting here and now.  Thank you very much.  (###)



ARTICLE 6:

Briefing on the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting
Winston Lord, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Opening statement at a news briefing, Seattle, Washington, November 20, 
1993

There were two historic events today, and I missed one of them.  The one 
I missed is, I gather, that Boston College beat Notre Dame in the last 
six seconds.  But the other one I was attending.

There is a tendency, I know, toward hyperbole at events like this; I 
wouldn't want to exaggerate this.  But I think that we will look back in 
10 or 20 years and consider this leaders' conference today a turning 
point in Asia-Pacific history in terms of symbolism and in terms of the 
beginning of moving toward a genuine community--a community as defined 
by the President, together with the other leaders, not in the sense of 
an integrated European Community but in a sense of family and a sense of 
shared purpose.

As I believe the President outlined earlier today, there were three 
central themes that emerged in the course of the discussions.

One, this group was united, not divided.

Secondly, it saw its purpose as being open and not closed.

Thirdly, you start with the Uruguay Round, underlining the fact that the 
global approach to growth and world trade is the central theme.  Indeed, 
that was borne out in the course of this week by the impressive Uruguay 
Round package that Mickey Kantor and others put together, representing 
some $250 billion of trade in the sectors covered--going beyond what the 
Quad had agreed to earlier.

The Vision Statement And Further Ideas
You have to remember that this leaders' conference didn't even exist 
four months ago.  It was proposed by the President but worked out 
carefully--as is consistent with the consensus principle of APEC--over 
the last few months.  I think it's fair to say that the chemistry among 
the leaders began to warm up at dinner last night and then in the boat 
ride today.  You could see, as the day went on, in the informal 
discussions with only the leaders in the room, that it got more and more 
open and relaxed.

There was not a series of prepared statements; there were genuine 
interventions.  There were ideas in the Vision Statement.  But--as I 
will rehearse in just a minute--as the discussions went on, new ideas 
began to come out on the table about how the member economies and 
countries could move toward the vision they sketched in the Vision 
Statement.

As one leader put it, "Beginning is half the job done."  Now this is a 
beginning, and it's made concrete by the fact that, toward the end of 
the discussion, the participants unanimously asked President Suharto of 
Indonesia--or recommended to him--that he offer to host another leaders' 
meeting next year in Indonesia.  He readily accepted, and everyone 
thanked him for that.  So I think that's the best proof that the leaders 
found this exercise worthwhile.  This was pre-cooked--I mean, I think 
that it's fair to say that there was some thought given to that, but 
people were reserving judgment until they saw how it went.

I'm assuming you all have copies of the Vision Statement.  We want to 
leave some time for questions.  So I won't go over that, except to say 
that, beyond the general vision sketched in the front of it of moving 
toward freer trade in the region--and keep in mind you've got an 
extremely diverse set of countries and economies here, and yet they can 
agree on the principle of freer trade; they can agree on the principle 
of global trade through the GATT; they can agree on the strength in 
diversity; and they can agree on a sense of community, as I said 
earlier--there were some specific initiatives, because the discussions 
in the course of the day were divided into three parts.

--  The first part was sketching the challenges and opportunities in the 
region.
--  Then they moved into each leader describing his sense of national 
priorities within that framework.
--  The third part of the discussions, starting at lunch and moving 
through  the afternoon, was mechanisms and institutions to move toward 
that vision.

Specific Initiatives
I think you're familiar with the primary ones in the statement:  the 
fact that the finance ministers will meet in 1994 and the fact that a 
business forum will be formed to advise how the private sector can more 
effectively work with APEC.  But in the course of the afternoon, this 
was further refined when the extraordinarily important role of small- 
and medium-sized businesses was underlined.  It was determined that in 
this forum, you'd have one representative--from each country--of a large 
business, but the other one would have to be from a small or medium 
business.  The important thing to note here is that in most of the APEC 
economies, over 90% of their exports are by small and medium businesses, 
not by large businesses.

There's also an APEC education program to be fleshed out, but this would 
include, perhaps, scholarships and study centers.  There were more 
specific initiatives on small and medium businesses and the potential 
gathering of ministers concerned with these enterprises to discuss how 
they can link up better.

The leaders also asked their bureaucracies to develop an action plan on 
the relationship between growth, energy, and environment.  Again, the 
energy demand in this region is awesome.  By the year 2000, that demand 
will double if it's not gotten under control.  Present growth rates 
cannot be sustained unless something is done about this, not to mention 
the impact on the environment.  And there was a proposal of cultural 
exchange.

Again, all of these, except the first four, came up beyond the Vision 
Statement in the course of their discussions.  There was also a proposal 
that APEC develop non-binding, non-discriminating investment rules.  Now 
that's only a beginning; it is non-binding, but it could lead to 
something really quite significant for this diverse region.  Finally, 
there was a proposal that a technology transfer exchange center be 
established to help developing countries in particular.

So there are some concrete initiatives beginning to flesh out the vision 
that the leaders of these diverse countries agreed upon.  Indeed, at the 
end, the President and the others each said, let's put our best people 
to work on these projects and let's make as much progress as we can make 
by the time we meet again--approximately a year from now.

Some General Themes Of the Discussions
Let me just give a few themes and then go to your questions.  In the 
course of the discussions, I think, one of the themes that emerged was, 
of course, the great sense of potential and dynamism in this region--
you're familiar with that from the course of this week.  So I won't give 
you a long rundown of statistics, except to re-emphasize that once the 
word community was understood--some were rather frightened by it, 
thinking of the EEC--but in the sense that the President spelled out 
last evening, I think there was a ready agreement of moving toward that 
kind of family and shared purposes.

The integration of the Asia-Pacific region was underlined by one 
participant.  Already, this region is more integrated in terms of trade 
than Europe or any other region in the world, which, frankly, came as a 
surprise to me and many of the rest of us.  Sixty-six percent of the 
trade of the APEC members is among themselves--versus only 60% or 61% in 
the EEC.

The diversity of this group, I think, was reflected in the fact that you 
can roughly divide it into three groups.

--  You have the developing countries still in the rather early stages 
of development, and they are still plagued by population and poverty 
problems.

--  Then you have the "tigers," or newly industrialized economies.  
Their main problem and challenge is the need for infrastructure; indeed, 
over the next 10 years, you will see $1 trillion spent on this by these 
countries--tremendous opportunities for American business, by the way.

--  Then there are the developed countries, the third group, and here I 
think it's fair to say the most challenging problem was job creation.

Indeed, one of the themes throughout the discussion, particularly among 
some of the more developed countries, was the fear of their citizens 
with respect to change--the insecurity of a more interdependent world 
economy.  And that's why many of the leaders underlined their approval 
of the President's victory on NAFTA, which was a triumph, they felt, of 
hope over fear--looking to the future rather than retreating toward the 
past.  Finally, I'd like to end up by saying that the importance of the 
Uruguay Round was a constant theme throughout these discussions, 
reflected in the Vision Statement and, of course, in the market access 
package that I outlined earlier.

The final note--it would be the importance of the private sector.  I 
think there were some 2,000 business people here this week.  Some of the 
initiatives that we have developed reflect the role of the private 
sector.  I think it's fair to say that if anyone is out there creating a 
community, it is private business.  And it's one of the roles of APEC 
and the APEC governments to get out of the way of business, to remove 
obstacles, and to facilitate trade and investment.  (###)



ARTICLE 7:

APEC Ministerial Meeting Joint Statement

Following is the text of a joint statement released by the APEC 
ministers, Seattle, Washington, November 20, 1993.  (For the text of 
Annex 1, see p. 832 [ARTICLE 8]; Annexes 2-8 omitted.)

1.  Ministers from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, the People's 
Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, 
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the 
Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and the United States 
of America participated in the Fifth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 
(APEC) Ministerial Meeting convened in Seattle, Washington November 17-
19, 1993.  The ASEAN Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation 
Council (PECC) and the South Pacific Forum (SPF) attended as observers.  
Members of the APEC Secretariat also were present.

2.  The meeting was chaired by the Honorable Warren Christopher, 
Secretary of State of the United States.

3.  In his opening remarks, Secretary Christopher stated trade and 
investment within Asia and the Pacific are weaving a new web of human 
and commercial relationships.  He indicated APEC can play a crucial role 
in developing these Asia-Pacific networks.  The Secretary also stressed 
APEC's development depends on its ability to promote more open trade and 
investment in the region, increase cooperation on issues that require 
regional   solutions, and improve regional infrastructure.

4.  The Ministers noted with great anticipation the meeting of APEC 
leaders to be held in Seattle, November 20, 1993.  The Ministers agreed 
this meeting offers a unique opportunity for leaders to articulate a 
shared vision for the region into the next century and further develop 
economic ties in the region.

5.  Ministers held discussions on a range of topics, including:

--  The Report of the Eminent Persons Group
--  Economic Trends and Issues
--  Trade and Investment Issues
--  The APEC Work Program
--  Participation Issues
--  Organizational Issues

6.  As the former Chairman of APEC and the current Chairman of the ASEAN 
Standing Committee, H.E. Foreign Minister Prasong Soonsiri of Thailand 
expressed satisfaction with the progress made since the Bangkok 
Ministerial meeting.  He stated APEC's priority tasks are to push for 
the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round by the target date and to 
further enhance technical cooperation and trade facilitation in APEC.  
The Foreign Minister stressed the achievement of regional trade 
liberalization must be made through consultation in a manner consistent 
with the principles of GATT and open regionalism, with full recognition 
of members' differences in levels of economic development.  APEC must 
retain its consensual and flexible character, which continues to be its 
fundamental strength.

REPORT OF THE EMINENT PERSONS GROUP
7.  Ministers expressed their great appreciation for the initial Report 
of the Eminent Persons Group, which assessed the current position and 
outlook of the APEC region, developed a long-term vision for open trade 
in the APEC region and proposed a program of initiatives to implement 
the vision.  The EPG chair, Dr. C. Fred Bergsten, presented the Group's 
unanimous Report which emphasized that APEC must accelerate and expand 
cooperation in order to respond to three threats to the continued 
vitality of the region:  erosion of the multilateral global trading 
system; evolution of inward looking regionalism; and risk of 
fragmentation within the Asia-Pacific region.  The EPG recommended APEC 
undertake initiatives in four areas:  regional and global trade 
liberalization; trade facilitation programs; technical cooperation; and 
institutionalizing APEC.

8.  Ministers warmly welcomed the Report's broad thrust and direction, 
pointing out the Report's bold vision of open trade, investment and 
economic development in the region provides an important foundation and 
catalyst for future regional cooperation.  In a wide-ranging discussion 
Ministers noted the contribution of the EPG in promoting vigorous debate 
on the economic challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region, reaffirmed 
the central value of a strengthened open multilateral trading system to 
continued growth in APEC economies, urged acceleration and extension of 
APEC's trade and investment facilitation and technical cooperation, and 
expressed their desire to enhance APEC's role as a vehicle for regional 
and global trade and investment liberalization.  They also noted the EPG 
vision reflected the strengthening of economic relationships and a 
growing sense of cohesion and community in the Asia-Pacific region, 
reflecting APEC's commitment to consultation and consensus building.  
Ministers directed the APEC Secretariat to give broad distribution to 
the Report. They also suggested EPG members might wish to discuss the 
Report with the business community, academia, and the general public, 
and APEC members might wish to encourage this process.

9.  Ministers discussed several approaches to addressing the EPG 
recommendations, noting in particular that those recommendations closely 
linked to ongoing work should be implemented promptly; those 
recommendations related to the outcome of the Uruguay Round would 
require additional study and consideration; and those recommendations 
related to longer term trade liberalization would require further 
elaboration by the EPG, on the advice of Senior Officials.

10.  In light of the above, Ministers instructed Senior Officials to 
develop pragmatic programs to implement the EPG recommendations on trade 
liberalization and facilitation, technical cooperation, and the 
development of the APEC structure and decision-making process.  
Ministers further requested Senior Officials prepare a strategy and 
program to advance regional and global open trade, identify mechanisms 
to achieve that goal, and report to Ministers at the next ministerial 
meeting.

11.  Ministers asked the Eminent Persons Group, on the advice of Senior 
Officials, to present further more specific proposals on how the 
recommended long-term vision might be realized.  Ministers wish to 
consider these proposals at their meeting in Indonesia in 1994.

ECONOMIC TRENDS AND ISSUES
12.  Ministers emphasized the central role which sound economic analysis 
plays in developing both national policies and regional cooperative 
initiatives.  The growing interdependence within the region is producing 
shared goals and aspirations and fostering a spirit of common purpose 
and of community among APEC members.  The work of the Ad Hoc Group on 
Economic Trends and Issues is, therefore, crucial to promoting open 
trade and investment throughout the region and increasing the economic 
well-being of all our peoples.  Ministers directed the Group to 
strengthen further its capability to prepare assessments of long-term 
economic trends and studies of specific sectoral issues.  Ministers 
directed Senior Officials to explore the possibility of transforming the 
Group into the APEC Economic Committee before the next ministerial 
meeting.

13.  Ministers thanked Thailand for the excellent economic outlook paper 
prepared for Ministers' review.  Ministers discussed the key issues 
analyzed in the report, including the prospects for continued economic 
growth in the region and the near-term outlook for inflation.  Ministers 
also considered several emerging economic issues the paper identified, 
including the growth of infrastructure bottlenecks in some member 
economies and changes in the labor markets of several member economies.

14.  Ministers welcomed the valuable analysis contained in Japan's paper 
on a vision of the region in the year 2000.  They noted the importance 
of continued analysis of the major topics in the report, including trade 
and investment liberalization, developing human resources and meeting 
environmental and energy resource challenges.

15.  Ministers endorsed the proposal to initiate regular exchange among 
APEC members of key economic statistics.  Such exchange will facilitate 
policy formulation and enhance future Ministerial discussion of economic 
developments in the region.

16.  Ministers endorsed the Group's mission statement and instructed 
Senior Officials to advance work on one or more of the proposals to:  
assess the study on investment flows throughout the region; examine the 
interrelation of trade liberalization and privatization; study the means 
of sustaining economic growth in the context of sound energy and 
environmental policies; and over the longer term, explore the 
feasibility of producing in-depth analysis of international industrial 
linkages.  Ministers also directed Senior Officials to prepare short- to 
medium-term economic outlooks for economies of the region for use at the 
1994 ministerial meeting.

TRADE AND INVESTMENT ISSUES
17.  Ministers confirmed trade and investment liberalization as the 
cornerstone of APEC's identity and activity.  Strengthening the 
multilateral trading system, expanding regional and global trade and 
improving investment rules and procedures in a GATT-consistent manner 
are, therefore, central APEC objectives.  The Uruguay Round must 
conclude by December 15.  Ministers accordingly resolved to exercise the 
political will required to achieve this goal.  To that end, Ministers 
agreed to a resolute statement urging an early and successful conclusion 
to the Uruguay Round and demonstrated their commitment to this goal by 
expressing their preparedness to take additional specific trade 
liberalizing measures [Annex 1].  APEC challenges other Uruguay Round 
participants to enhance their own contributions to the Round's 
successful conclusion.

18.  Ministers expressed strong support to non-GATT members of APEC in 
their efforts to become  GATT contracting parties, thus making 
additional contributions to the strengthening of the multilateral 
trading system.

19.  Ministers welcomed the Report of the Informal Group on Regional 
Trade Liberalization (RTL), as agreed by Senior Officials, and endorsed 
its recommendations on the continuation of a dialogue within APEC on 
important multilateral and regional trade policy issues and the further 
development of APEC's action agenda on trade and investment.  On the 
trade policy dialogue, Ministers noted in particular the effective role 
played by APEC in maintaining the momentum for a satisfactory outcome to 
the Uruguay Round and in fostering better understanding of subregional 
trade arrangements and the contribution of such arrangements to APEC's 
overall goals.

20.  Ministers emphasized the imperative that APEC members give 
effective support to the market-driven dynamism of the region.  In this 
respect, they endorsed the RTL Group's recommendations aimed at 
improving access to tariff data, reducing administrative barriers to 
trade, streamlining customs procedures, harmonizing the diverse 
approaches to standards and conformance issues and encouraging the flow 
of investment.  Ministers welcomed the extensive progress on customs 
facilitation, publication of an APEC Investment Guidebook and a private 
sector survey of attitudes toward investment in the region, publication 
of the APEC Customs Manual and hosting of the APEC Customs Symposium.  
APEC's important work in this area will be further developed by the new 
Committee on Trade and Investment which will replace the RTL Group.

21.  Ministers wholeheartedly adopted the "Declaration on an APEC Trade 
and Investment Framework" and the accompanying initial work program for 
the newly established Committee on Trade and Investment [Annex 2].  The 
Declaration significantly advances APEC's role in trade and investment 
by engaging APEC members in both policy and facilitation matters.  The 
Declaration serves as an important instrument within which to further 
define APEC's identity, expand economic activity and facilitate the flow 
of goods, services, capital, investment and technology throughout the 
region.

22.  Ministers called for a meeting of ministers concerned with trade 
policy to review the results of the Uruguay Round and its implications 
for the region.  Ministers urged this post-Uruguay Round meeting to 
consider next steps for regional and global trade liberalization.

WORK PROGRAM ISSUES
23.  APEC's role in sustaining regional growth and development derives 
from growing intraregional economic interdependence.  The activities of 
the ten Working Groups are an essential part of APEC's efforts to 
contribute to the region's development and prosperity.  Recognizing the 
critical importance of modern telecommunications and information 
technologies to regional integration and cooperation; the unique role of 
tourism as the largest industry in the region; and the urgent need to 
work with other organizations on marine resources conservation to 
strengthen regional cooperation in response to UNCED, Ministers issued 
separate declarations on those issues [Annexes 3-5].

24.  Ministers commended and approved the vision and policy issues 
statements and asked the Working Groups to direct their efforts to 
realizing the objectives in those statements.  Ministers approved the 
Consolidated Report on the APEC Work Program.

25.  Ministers welcomed Korea's proposals on the establishment of an 
"APEC Vocational Training Program" and the creation of an "APEC 
Technomart" and directed the Senior Officials to explore the possibility 
of implementing them within the framework of the Human Resource 
Development and Investment and Industrial Science and Technology Working 
Groups.

Trade and Investment Data
26.  Ministers welcomed the progress made on developing a near 
comparable merchandise trade data base for APEC economies and directed 
that priority attention be devoted to efforts to adjust published 
merchandise trade data according to agreed principles and standards.  
The Group should also strengthen efforts to improve the collection and 
sharing of services trade and investment data.

Trade Promotion:  Programs and Mechanisms for Cooperation
27.  Ministers noted the Working Group can play an important role in 
strengthening interaction with the business/private sector.  Ministers 
anticipate the first Asia-Pacific International Trade Fair to be held in 
Osaka, Japan in October 1994 will be a significant step to accelerate 
trade promotion and increase commercial transactions in the region.

Investment and Industrial Science and Technology
28.  Ministers noted the broadening of the mandate for the Investment 
and Industrial Science and Technology Working Group and endorsed its 
efforts to develop a work program that increases cooperation in these 
important fields.

Human Resource Development
29.  The people of the Asia-Pacific region are its single most important 
asset.  The dynamism of the region is reflected in changing human 
resources needs.  Ministers expressed satisfaction with the progress 
achieved in APEC's human resource development activities, but urged that 
continued priority attention be devoted to this work--with particular 
emphasis on the training and adjustment needs necessitated by changing 
trade patterns, industrial restructuring and other economic changes 
associated with rapid growth and technological progress.

Energy Cooperation
30.  Ministers noted the vital importance of secure and balanced energy 
supplies and rational energy use for sustained economic development and 
protection of the environment.  They welcomed technology and policy 
exchanges on energy efficiency, clean coal technology and renewable 
energy, and in particular were encouraged by active business/private 
sector participation in APEC technical energy workshops and seminars.

Marine Resource Conservation
31.  Ministers confirmed the unique contribution APEC can make to marine 
resources conservation and the importance of APEC cooperation with other 
marine resources conservation organizations in response to UNCED.

Telecommunications
32.  Modern and compatible telecommunications networks are vital 
components linking and drawing closer the APEC economies.  Ministers 
praised the completion of the second edition of The State of 
Telecommunications Infrastructure and Regulatory Environments of APEC 
Economies, the Working Group's stress on human resources development, 
and its important contribution to the consideration of coordinating 
APEC's electronic data interchange activities.

Fisheries
33.  Ministers noted the important role of fisheries to the region's 
economies and endorsed the Working Group's project on fisheries 
management, survey of training needs, health and quality rules for 
fisheries products, improved marketing information on seafood trade in 
the region, and the possible role of APEC in respect to aquaculture.

Transportation
34.  Ministers emphasized the importance of efficient transportation 
systems in promoting regional growth and integration.  They expressed 
appreciation for the Working Group's efforts in developing information 
on regional transportation and encouraged the Group to accelerate its 
work on identifying infrastructural needs and facilitating movement of 
passengers and goods in the region.

Tourism
35.  Ministers welcomed the progress made by the Working Group in 
addressing the issues of sustainable development of the tourism sector 
and addressing the relationship between tourism and the environment.

PARTICIPATION ISSUES
36.  Ministers noted the continuing interest expressed by a number of 
economies and organizations in participating in some capacity in the 
APEC process.  Ministers reaffirmed APEC is an open and evolving process 
and recalled the view expressed in Bangkok that consolidation and 
effectiveness should be the primary considerations at this stage of 
APEC's development.  Ministers also recognized, however, that APEC 
should develop more systematic means of addressing the issue of new 
members in a manner which is responsive to APEC's needs while promoting 
constructive interaction with other economies and organizations in the 
region.

37.  Ministers welcomed the admission of Mexico and Papua New Guinea to 
APEC.  They also decided to admit Chile to APEC and looked forward to 
its membership at the ministerial meeting in 1994.  In the interim, 
Ministers encourage Chile to participate in the Working Group 
activities.  Noting the importance of increasing APEC's effectiveness, 
Ministers agreed to defer consideration of additional members for three 
years, during which time Senior Officials would study APEC's membership 
policies and provide recommendations to Ministers on an ongoing basis.

38.  Ministers reaffirmed that participation by non-members from the 
Asia-Pacific region in APEC work projects can be beneficial to members 
as well as non-members.  In order to facilitate cooperation with non-
members and address issues arising from increased economic 
interdependence, Ministers approved the proposed guidelines for non-
member participation in APEC Working Group activities which appear as 
Annex 6, and asked Senior Officials to identify other potential means to 
promote mutually beneficial interaction.  With respect to organizations, 
Senior Officials should identify considerations to guide APEC in 
fostering appropriate ties and report their findings to the Sixth 
Ministerial.

Private Sector Participation
39.  The business/private sector has played a major role in facilitating 
the dynamic growth of the region.  Engagement with the business/private 
sector, particularly through Working Group activities, ensures APEC's 
efforts are relevant to real world challenges and opportunities.  
Ministers commended the progress made this year in increasing 
business/private sector engagement with APEC and directed each Working 
Group to enhance its outreach to the business/private sector.  Ministers 
pledged to solicit the advice of the business/private sector on issues 
relevant to APEC's work, especially through the PECC, and instructed 
Senior Officials to explore other ways of broadening and deepening 
cooperation with the business/private sector including the work of the 
new Committee on Trade and Investment.

ORGANIZATION ISSUES

APEC Secretariat
40.  Ministers noted with satisfaction the successful establishment of 
the APEC Secretariat, and expressed deep appreciation to Singapore for 
its extraordinary generosity in assisting the Secretariat and to 
Executive Director Ambassador Bodde and the Secretariat staff for their 
outstanding efforts     during the first year of operation.   Ministers 
highlighted the Secretariat's crucial role in facilitating cooperative 
links with members and the work program.  Ministers stressed the 
Secretariat should serve as a central coordinating point for 
disseminating information including informing Working Groups of Senior 
Officials' decisions, coordinating requests by non-members to 
participate in APEC activities, and publishing and distributing APEC 
documents.  The Secretariat should continue to place high priority on 
careful management of the APEC budget, disbursement of central funds, 
and maintenance of effective financial controls to ensure accountability 
of APEC funds.

Budget
41.  Ministers endorsed efforts by Senior Officials, assisted by Working 
Group Shepherds and the APEC Secretariat, to develop and implement a 
series of measures related to financial operations and administration.  
Ministers approved an APEC 1994 Central Fund of $2 million and 
stipulated that unspent 1993 funds may be carried over to 1994 for 
expenditures approved by Senior Officials.  Ministers asked the Budget 
and Administrative Committee to address the issue of contributions from 
new members.

APEC Structure
42.  Ministers praised work by Korea and Canada in developing a 
comprehensive Vision Statement containing proposals designed to ensure 
efficient management of APEC's scarce resources.  Similarly, Ministers 
directed that a Budget and Administrative Committee be established to 
advise Senior Officials on operational and administrative budget issues, 
financial management, and project management of the APEC work program.  
For the first year, committee membership will be open to all APEC 
members.  The Working Groups will continue to report directly to Senior 
Officials.  Ministers directed Senior Officials to use the Vision 
Statement as a basis for developing proposals related to APEC's 
structure and to provide recommendations at the 1994 ministerial meeting 
on restructuring APEC to improve its effectiveness and decision-making 
process.

VENUES FOR FUTURE APEC MINISTERIAL MEETINGS
43.  As decided at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Sixth 
Ministerial Meeting will be held in Indonesia in 1994, the Seventh 
Ministerial Meeting will be held in Japan in 1995, Philippines and 
Canada will host the Eighth and Ninth Ministerial Meetings in 1996 and 
1997 respectively.

OTHER MATTERS
44.  Ministers also welcomed Canada's offer to host a meeting of APEC 
ministers concerned with the environment in Vancouver on March 25-26, 
1994 in connection with the Globe '94 conference and environmental 
exhibition.

45.  Ministers and their delegations expressed their deep appreciation 
to the United States for the warm and generous hospitality extended to    
them and the excellent facilities and arrangements made available for 
the Meeting.  (###)



ARTICLE 8:

Declaration on an APEC Trade And Investment Framework

Following is the text of Annex 1 of the APEC ministerial meeting joint 
statement released by the APEC ministers, Seattle, Washington, November 
20, 1993.

Ministers of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, the People's Republic 
of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, 
Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, 
Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States of America, meeting in 
Seattle from November 17-19, 1993, (collectively the "Members"):

1.  Determined to work through APEC toward the further development of 
open regionalism and market-driven economic interdependence in the Asia 
Pacific region;

2.  Challenged by their desire to capitalize upon the strong and dynamic 
growth in regional trade and investment through increased cooperation 
and facilitation;

3.  Recognizing that GATT principles are the cornerstone of the 
multilateral, international trading system and the basis for economic 
cooperation in APEC, and remaining committed to those principles;

4.  Mutually determined to develop APEC's global role as a forum 
operating through consultation and by consensus, distinguished by open 
regionalism and committed to the strengthening of the multilateral 
trading system embodied by GATT;

5.  Demonstrating to the global trade and investment community APEC's 
vision of dynamic interdependence and APEC's ability to represent the 
mutual interests of the Asia Pacific region with an active, common voice 
on trade and investment issues of global importance;

6.  Recognizing the differences in the stages of development and in the 
socio-political systems, and giving due consideration to the needs of 
developing economies;

7.  Recognizing the linkage between trade and investment and the flow of 
technology;

8.  Committed to open dialogue and consensus-building with respect to 
the views of all participants;

9.  Determined to pursue the objectives of the Seoul APEC Declaration 
November 14, 1991, confirmed at Bangkok on September 11, 1992 to:

--  sustain the growth and development of the region for the common good 
of its peoples and in this way, to contribute to the growth and 
development of the world economy;

--  enhance the positive gains, both for the region and the world 
economy, resulting from increasing economic interdependence, including 
by encouraging the flow of goods, services, capital and technology;

--  develop and strengthen the open multilateral trading system; and

--  reduce barriers to trade in goods and services and investment among 
participants in a manner consistent with GATT principles and without 
detriment to other economies;

10.  Acknowledging the essential role played by the APEC business sector 
in furthering growth, creating jobs, expanding trade and investment, 
improving technology and enhancing economic development and cognizant 
that protectionism, certain investment measures as well as other 
discriminatory and restrictive practices that distort trade would 
deprive APEC  economies of such benefits;

11.  Desiring to consult on and seek solutions to trade and investment 
problems in the region as amicably and expeditiously as possible without 
prejudice to the rights and interests of members under the GATT and 
consistent with GATT principles;

12.  Convinced that it would be in the interest of APEC economies to 
establish an APEC mechanism to stimulate the liberalization of trade and 
investment and advance a trade agenda in support of these objectives 
within the region.

To this end, Ministers jointly resolve as follows:

PARAGRAPH ONE
Establishment of the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment

Under the authority of APEC  Ministers, the APEC Committee on Trade and 
Investment (the "Committee") is established.  The Committee will report 
to Ministers through Senior Officials (the SOM).

PARAGRAPH TWO
Objectives

The objectives of the Committee are to:

1.  Create a coherent APEC perspective and voice on global trade and 
investment issues and increase cooperation among Members on key issues.

2.  Pursue opportunities to liberalize and expand trade, facilitate a 
more open environment for investment and develop initiatives to improve 
the flow of goods, services, capital and technology within the region; 
consult on issues of importance in that context and develop consensus to 
expand and strengthen these flows within the region and globally, and to 
reduce and remove distortions which impede these flows in a manner 
consistent with applicable GATT principles.

PARAGRAPH THREE
Scope of Activity

1.  Ministers will review progress on trade and investment issues and 
determine the Committee's work program at their annual meeting.

2.  The Work Program will address a range of such issues encompassing:

a)  policy issues related to the evolving interrelationship of the APEC 
economies within the global economic environment;
b)  impediments and distortions which affect the movement of goods, 
services, investment, and technology in the APEC  region;
c)  reduction of transaction costs which affect the flow of trade and 
investment in the region;
d)  trade and investment policy issues evolving from the work of 
individual APEC Working Groups and activities;
e)  ways to enhance the contribution of the APEC business sector in 
evolution of trade policies, identification of barriers to trade within 
the region and possible solutions of mutual benefit to the region.

3.  At this Ministerial meeting in Seattle, Ministers enjoined the 
Committee to undertake the initial work program for 1994.

PARAGRAPH FOUR
Structure of the Committee

1.  The Committee shall be composed of Members' policy-level officials 
responsible for trade and economic affairs.

2.  The Committee shall select a Chair and Vice Chair to serve a term to 
be decided by the Committee.

3.  The Committee will meet at such times as agreed jointly by 
representatives.

4.  The Committee may establish either temporary or permanent sub-
committees, with clearly defined terms of reference and duration, that 
may meet concurrently or separately in order to facilitate its work.  
(###)



ARTICLE 9:

APEC Economic Leaders' Vision Statement

Following is the text of a statement released by the APEC economic 
leaders, Seattle, Washington, November 20, 1993.

We have held an unprecedented meeting of the economic leaders of the 
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.  In this post Cold War era, we 
have an opportunity to build a new economic foundation for the Asia 
Pacific that harnesses the energy of our diverse economies, strengthens 
cooperation and promotes prosperity.

Our meeting reflects the emergence of a new voice for the Asia Pacific 
in world affairs.  As we prepare to enter the twenty-first century, we 
believe our dynamic region, representing forty percent of the world's 
population and fifty percent of its GNP, will play an important role in 
the global economy, leading the way on economic growth and trade 
expansion.

The foundation of our economic growth has been the open multilateral 
trading system.  Therefore, we pledge our utmost efforts to bring the 
Uruguay Round to a successful conclusion by December 15.  We are 
determined the Asia Pacific region will lead the way in taking concrete 
steps to produce the strongest possible outcome in Geneva.  Increased 
participation by APEC economies in a strengthened GATT system also will 
facilitate greater regional cooperation.

Our success has been the result of the ability of our societies to adapt 
to changing circumstances.  Our economies are moving toward 
interdependence and there is a growing sense of community among us.  We 
are united in our commitment to create a stable and prosperous future 
for our people.

Recognizing our economic interdependence as well as our economic 
diversity, we envision a community of Asia Pacific economies in which:

--  The spirit of openness and partnership deepens, enabling us to find 
cooperative solutions to the challenges of our rapidly changing regional 
and global economy;

--  We are a vast Asia Pacific market of two billion people where 
dynamic economic growth continues, contributing to an expanding world 
economy and supporting an open international trading system;

--  We continue to reduce trade and investment barriers so that our 
trade expands within the region and with the world and goods, services, 
capital and investment flow freely among our economies;

--  Our people share the benefits of economic growth through higher 
incomes, high skilled and high paying jobs and increased mobility;

--  Improved education and training produce rising literacy rates, 
provide the skills for maintaining economic growth and encourage the 
sharing of ideas that contribute to the arts and science;

--  Advances in telecommunications and transportation shrink time and 
distance barriers in our region and link our economies so that goods and 
people move quickly and efficiently;

--  Our environment is improved as we protect the quality of our air, 
water and green spaces and manage our energy sources and renewable 
resources to ensure sustainable growth and provide a more secure future 
for our people.

We recognize this vision will become a reality only if we work together 
actively to secure it.  We are convinced we can succeed.  We intend to 
use our shared vision as a guide for developing the future of our 
region.

We reaffirm our support for the continued development of APEC as a forum 
dedicated to producing tangible economic benefits to the region.  We 
urge APEC to expand its economic dialogue and advance its specific work 
projects.  The entrepreneurial spirit and market-oriented policies that 
have driven our economic dynamism will continue to be fostered within 
APEC.

We welcome the challenge presented to us in the report of the APEC 
Eminent Persons Group to achieve free trade in the Asia Pacific, advance 
global trade liberalization and launch concrete programs to move us 
toward those long-term goals.  We ask APEC to undertake work aimed at 
deepening and broadening the outcome of the Uruguay Round, strengthening 
trade and investment liberalization in the region, and facilitating 
regional cooperation, including in such areas as standards.

We agree to convene a meeting of APEC Finance Ministers to consult on 
broad economic issues including macroeconomic developments and capital 
flows.  We believe such discussions will help us address some of the 
challenges facing the region, including ensuring non-inflationary 
regional growth, financing investment and infrastructure development, 
and promoting capital market development.

We ask business leaders to establish a Pacific Business Forum to 
identify issues APEC should address to facilitate regional trade and 
investment and encourage the further development of business networks 
throughout the region.  We also ask APEC to strengthen its policy 
dialogue on small and medium size business enterprises. 

We agree to make an investment in our future generations by establishing 
an APEC Education Program to develop regional cooperation in higher 
education, study key regional economic issues, improve worker skills, 
facilitate cultural and intellectual exchanges, enhance labor mobility 
and foster understanding of the diversity of our region.  We agree to 
establish an APEC Business Volunteer Program to promote cooperation 
among us in the areas of human resource development and the exchange of 
management skills and techniques.

As members of APEC, we are committed to deepening our spirit of 
community based on our shared vision of achieving stability, security 
and prosperity for our peoples.  (###)



ARTICLE 10:

Fact Sheet:  Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Background
The Asia-Pacific region, comprising some of the more dynamic economies 
in the world, has experienced unprecedented growth in the last two 
decades.  Economic relations among economies of the region also have 
increased dramatically, fueled by growing trade and financial flows.  

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established to better 
manage the effects of growing interdependence in the Pacific region and 
sustain economic growth.  A new vehicle for multilateral cooperation 
among the market-oriented economies of the region was needed.  APEC 
began in 1989 as an informal grouping of 12 Asia-Pacific economies 
formed to meet that need.  In November 1991, APEC admitted China, Hong 
Kong, and Chinese Taipei.  In November 1993, Mexico and Papua New Guinea 
joined APEC, bringing membership to 17.

APEC provides a forum for discussion on a broad range of economic issues 
of importance to the region.  The APEC chair rotates annually among 
members and is responsible for hosting an annual ministerial meeting.  
Foreign and economic ministers from the members first met in Canberra, 
Australia, in November 1989.  Since then, annual ministerial meetings 
have been held in Singapore; Seoul, South Korea; Bangkok, Thailand; and 
Seattle, Washington.  Upcoming ministerial meetings are planned for 
Indonesia in 1994, Japan in 1995, the Philippines in 1996, and Canada in 
1997.

Indonesia now holds the APEC chair and will host the next APEC 
ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in November 1994.  Indonesia 
also will host periodic lower-level meetings throughout 1994 to lay the 
groundwork for the ministerial meeting.  

U.S.-APEC Relations
The United States works closely with members of APEC, which is an 
important part of U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.  President 
Clinton has underscored that the United States is "committed to making 
[APEC] a vehicle for liberalization in the region."

In 1992, U.S. trade across the Pacific ($344 billion) was 51% greater 
than trade with Western Europe ($228 billion).  U.S. foreign direct 
investment in economies belonging to the APEC group was more than $145 
billion in 1992, about 30% of total U.S. foreign direct investment.

APEC Progress
APEC has grown from an informal dialogue group to a more formalized 
institution that involves all major economies of the region:  China, 
Hong Kong, and Chinese Taipei joined APEC in 1991; APEC established a 
permanent secretariat in Singapore in September 1992;  and, at the 
November 17-19, 1993, ministerial meeting in Seattle, Mexico and Papua 
New Guinea joined APEC and ministers invited Chile to join in late 1994.  
In Seattle, ministers also agreed to the Declaration on an APEC Trade 
and Investment Framework and action plan, set up the Committee on Trade 
and Investment, and extended the non-governmental Eminent Persons 
Group's mandate to develop proposals to effect its long-term 
recommendations and vision for Asia-Pacific regional economic 
cooperation.

APEC economic leaders, meeting on Blake Island near Seattle on November 
20, 1993, set forth a vision which recognizes that in the post-Cold War 
era:

We have an opportunity to build a new economic foundation for the Asia 
Pacific that harnesses the energy of our diverse economies, strengthens 
cooperation and promotes prosperity.  

The leaders also:

--  Called for a successful conclusion to the Uruguay Round of the 
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade;
--  Called on APEC to expand its economic dialogue and advance its work 
program;
--  Agreed to convene a meeting of APEC finance ministers;
--  Asked business leaders to establish a Pacific Business Forum;
--  Asked APEC to strengthen its policy dialogue on small and medium-
sized business enterprises; and
--  Agreed to establish an APEC Education Program and a Business 
Volunteer Program. 

APEC's priority is to encourage market-oriented solutions to the 
adjustment problems associated with quickly growing economies.  APEC has 
made significant contributions to negotiations during the Uruguay Round 
and is considering moves toward regional trade liberalization.

APEC Groups
APEC senior officials oversee 10 working groups, covering broad areas of 
economic, educational, and environmental cooperation.  In addition, APEC 
has a Committee on Trade and Investment and an Ad Hoc Group on Economic 
Trends and Issues.  The working groups are:

Trade and Investment Data.  Develops consistent and reliable data in 
merchandise trade, trade in services, and investment.

Trade Promotion.  Develops proposals to exchange trade and industrial 
information and to promote economic and trade missions among economies 
of the region.  Organizes international seminars and meetings to pro-
mote trade, an Asia-Pacific trade fair, and a training course on trade 
promotion.

Investment and Industrial Science and Technology.  Promotes investment 
in the APEC region through such activities as an investment and 
technology information network for the Asia-Pacific region.

Human Resource Development. Seeks ways to exchange information among 
Asia-Pacific economies in such areas as business administration, 
industrial training and innovation, project management, and development 
planning.  In this working group, the United States hosted an APEC 
education ministerial in Washington, DC, in August 1992 and sponsors the 
APEC Partnership for Education, which promotes university partnerships 
among U.S. and Asian/South Pacific universities, outreach and 
cooperative education activities, and private sector training.

Energy Cooperation.  Develops cooperative projects, such as a regional 
database on energy supply and demand, and exchanges views on, among 
other things, coal utilization, technology transfer, and resource 
exploration and development.

Marine Resource Conservation. Exchanges information on policy and 
technical aspects of marine pollution and advancement of integrated 
coastal zone planning.  Exchanges information on and develops 
recommendations for dealing with red tide/toxic algae pollution 
problems.  

Telecommunications.  Compiles annual survey on APEC telecommunications 
development activities, including a description of each member country's 
telecommunications environment.  Explores ways to establish and develop 
regional networks, initially by encouraging electronic data interchange.  
Exchanges information on policy and regulatory developments in each 
member's telecommunications sector.  Disseminates a manual on how to 
approach training in a telecommunications organization, followed by a 
pilot project reviewing needs and recommending solutions in a selected 
organization.  

Transportation.  Studies and recommends ways to improve infrastructure, 
facilitate movement of passengers and freight, collect and exchange 
data, and enhance transportation safety and security.  This U.S.-led 
working group is one of three added in March 1991.  The United States 
proposed it because of the importance of improved transportation links 
to continued economic growth in the region.

Tourism.  Studies one of the region's most important industries, 
focusing on tourism data exchange, barriers to expansion, training 
programs, and current projects in APEC member economies.

Fisheries.  Surveys the pattern of APEC fisheries cooperation to develop 
fisheries resources.  Reports on role of APEC in coordinating and 
complementing the work of existing organizations and promoting 
cooperative relations among APEC participants.

Participating Economies
Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South 
Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, 
Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States  (###)



ARTICLE 11:

Fact Sheet:  APEC Working Groups

Since APEC's formation in 1989, 10 APEC working groups have been 
established to develop activities which will contribute to its overall 
goal of expanding economic cooperation among the member economies.  
Following are descriptions of each group.

Human Resource Development Working Group

Background
The APEC Human Resource Development (HRD) working group, chaired by 
Canada, promotes the development of human resources in the Asia-Pacific 
region, with the recognition that economic prosperity requires a well-
trained, flexible work force.  The working group aims to exchange 
information within APEC on business administration, industrial training 
and innovation, project management, and development planning.  Three 
main networks/priority areas are:  Business Management Network; Network 
for Economic Development and Management; and Human Resources Development 
in Industrial Technology Network.

Recent Accomplishments
--  Within the HRD working group, the U.S. sponsors the APEC Partnership 
for Education, promoting university partnerships among U.S. and other 
APEC member economy universities, outreach and cooperative education 
activities, and private sector training.

--  The working group is undertaking more than 50 projects, including, 
for example, human resource development efforts in small and medium-
sized enterprises, the impact of foreign aid on human resource 
development and capacity-building, developing a quality work force 
through on-the-job training, and the compilation of comparable education 
statistics in the APEC region.

Goals
The working group will continue to discuss human resource development 
policy issues among APEC members.  It will complement activities of 
other APEC working groups and multilateral agencies engaged in human 
resource development.  Specifically, it will complete the rotation of 
network coordinators in the Business Management Network, Network for 
Economic Development and Management, and the Human Resources Development 
in Industrial Technology Network.  The working group plans to finish its 
medium-term work plan and continue to promote the U.S.-APEC Partnership 
for Education, the Japan-APEC Partnership for Education and Training, 
and the Mobility in the Asia-Pacific Pr