In the meantime, global economic momentum appears to be gathering pace.
Hans Rasmussen, President and CEO of APEC, said: “At the launch of APEC 2015, we reaffirmed our commitment to ambitious, sustainable, low-carbon development to build a global economic forum for growth and sustainable development. We can use the benefits from low-carbon developments to reap the rewards of Asia’s growth and unleash the benefits for the whole world.”
APEC’s other proposed initiatives are focused on investing in better transportation and freight mobility; expanding economic opportunity and boosting productivity; supporting a stable global economy and its ability to create jobs and economic opportunities in developing and low-income countries; and working to develop a comprehensive regional framework to address global and regional trans-boundary environmental challenges.
Possible Progress
Non-regional options to extend Asia-Pacific integration and advance regional cooperation in logistics and trade have also been explored in past APEC Chair’s Conventions.
After three rounds of negotiations on the Working Group on Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), the APEC Secretariat released the APEC Technical Mechanism on Preference Closer Integration (MTC), which is directed towards developing a set of standards to enhance investment opportunities and reduce cost pressures in transboundary industries, facilitate investments in regional free trade zones, and enhance trade facilitation and competitiveness. pengiriman cargo
After five rounds of negotiations on the PTAs and a political breakthrough in 2014, there has been considerable progress over the past year on regional PTAs. In March, countries negotiating Preferential Trade Agreement with China announced that they have reached common ground to extend regional trade and investment agreements to key economic sectors.
A number of projects are currently under way or nearing completion, including joint projects to develop two cross-border shipping routes across the South China Sea and allow land transportation across Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Experts point to a renewed interest on part of APEC on regional infrastructure projects. At the May 2013 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, APEC concluded an Agreement on Common Services in Transport and Shipping, which outlines guidelines for establishing and maintaining common services. The Agreement provides a framework for strengthening existing infrastructure links and facilitating coordination, oversight, and administrative procedures in the freight and maritime transport sector.
Other possible progress is anticipated from APEC’s transport-focused institutional arrangement, the Trans-Regional Highway Network (TRHN) Strategy for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In November 2013, members of the TRHN Working Group established a framework that sets out a roadmap for trans-regional connectivity, including the adoption of strategies to facilitate the trans-regional movement of goods and services and of skills and people.
Discussions will continue over the next few months in preparation for APEC’s APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Japan next year.
The Trans-Regional Highway Network Strategy has been developed in cooperation with APEC Development Partners (ADPs). These include representatives from Asian Development Bank, AIIB, International Finance Corporation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the World Bank.
Forwarding opportunities
In a separate region-specific initiative, the United States, Australia, the European Union, and South Korea are working with Japan and South Korea to modernise the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement (APFTA), and coordinate efforts on freight transport.
In the current global economic and regional environment, there is an opportunity to accelerate cooperation between APEC countries, which can deliver considerable benefits, on the basis of solid infrastructure and cooperative efforts.
Meanwhile, within the larger Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, a new business model has been proposed to allow for freer operations by allowing transshipment of freight, particularly in the supply chain.
At the October 2014 Leaders’ Meeting, leaders of TPP countries agreed to expand the agreement to include certain categories of products, including retail, electronic, health care, personal care, footwear, chemicals and plastics. The progress made at APEC on regional Preferential Trade Agreements reflects a possible advance in the TPP negotiations.
TPP provides a new horizon for forwarding freight in the region, in the context of ensuring efficient network integration and eliminating trade inefficiencies, which can lead to much-improved services for freight forwarding.
