Prime Minister Noda Attended 2012 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting-Asia-Pacific As a Driving Force of the Global Economy-

In the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting held from September 8th to 9th, under the chairmanship of Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussions took place on the four prioritized areas of APEC for this year (1. Trade and Investment Liberalization, Regional Economic Integration; 2. Strengthening Food Security; 3. Establishing Reliable Supply Chains; and 4. Intensive Cooperation to Foster Innovative growth), as well as the "World Economic Situation and the Asia-Pacific Region".

(1) Sessions on "Trade and Investment Liberalization, Regional Economic Integration" and "Establishing Reliable Supply Chains"

• In his keynote address, Prime Minister Noda mentioned that (1) Japan is willing to continue playing a key role in establishing the rules of trade and investment within the region towards the FTAAP (Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific); (2) the leaders should endorse the APEC List of Environmental Goods that has been agreed on in the APEC Ministers' Meeting so as to promote green growth; and (3) APEC should lead the world in delivering a strong message against protectionism.
• From other economies, there were statements on various issues such as: the importance of APEC showing a strict attitude against protectionism; ongoing efforts towards FTAAP including Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); and a significance of the APEC List of Environmental Goods.

(2) Sessions on "Strengthening Food Security" and "Intensive Cooperation to Foster Innovative Growth"

• Prime Minister Noda made a keynote address on food security, and stressed that it is important for the APEC region, which accounts for half of the world's grain production, to react calmly, but adequately, to the recent international rise in food prices.
• In addition, he pointed out the necessity of implementation of an open and market-oriented innovation policy in order for the APEC region to achieve innovative growth.

(3) Working Lunch "World Economic Situation and the Asia-Pacific Region"

• Following a report by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, the Leaders discussed the impact of the European debt crisis on the Asia-Pacific region and subsequently, necessary cooperation among economies.

Following the discussions, the Leaders adopted the Declaration, "Integrate to Grow, Innovate to Prosper." The Declaration covers various issues such as:

• The Leaders endorsed the APEC List of Environmental Goods that directly and positively contribute to green growth and sustainable development, which is made up of 54 items, including photovoltaic panels and wind-powered electric generating facilities. APEC economies will reduce tariff rates of these items to 5% or below by 2015, based on the Honolulu Declaration agreed in November 2011.
• The Leaders reaffirmed measures to hold back protectionism that were committed to at the 2011 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting*. In addition they expressed their willingness towards early conclusion of negotiations on expansion of the product coverage and membership of the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA).
  1. Refraining from new trade restriction measures until the end of 2015 (standstill)
  2. Rectifying the measures that have already been introduced (rollback)
  3. Voluntarily refraining from taking measures with a strong nature of protectionism even though they may be consistent with the WTO.
• The Leaders agreed to found the Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI) as a framework for promoting policy consultations among government, industry and academia, and as a network for people taking active roles in innovation.

• Text of the 2012 APEC Leaders' Declaration(PDF:371KB)

September 10, 2012

APEC Office, Trade Policy Bureau