WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/777 
16 November 2009 
 (09-5683) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
TWENTY-FIRST APEC MINISTERIAL MEETING 
Singapore  
11-12 November 2009 
 
Communication from Singapore
 
 
  The following communication, dated 16 N ovember 2009, has been received from the 
Delegation of Singapore with the request that it be circulated to Members. 
 
_______________ 
  
Joint Statement 
 
 We, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (A PEC) Ministers, met on 11-12 November in 
Singapore.  The meeting was co-chaired by H.E.  George Yeo, Minister for Foreign Affairs, 
Singapore, and H.E. Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry, Singapore.    We welcomed the participation in the meeti ng of the Director-General of the World Trade 
Organisation (WTO) Mr Pascal Lamy, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), the 
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEA N), and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council 
(PECC).   Our discussions centred on "Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region", the theme for APEC 2009.  We reviewed global and regional ec onomic developments, welcomed the progress made 
towards strengthening regional economic integrat ion (REI), and discussed strategies to sustain 
economic growth. 
  The global economic situation has eased consid erably.  The IMF estimates that world GDP 
will rise by nearly 3 per cent in 2010, and that all APEC economies will shift to positive GDP growth 
next year.  But the recovery remains fragile;  the growth profile over the next few quarters is likely to 
be uneven.  Unemployment remains unacceptably high in many of our economies.  We will work 
together, and with other international fora, to ensu re that the recovery does not stall and to lay a 
foundation for growth that is inclusive, balanced  and sustainable, supported by innovation and a 
knowledge-based economy, and anchored  on APEC's core agenda to promote free and open trade and 
investment.  Our confidence in the medium and long-term growth prospects for the Asia-Pacific 
region remains unwavering. 
 
Addressing the Crisis, Positioning for Recovery 
 Fostering Inclusive Growth 
  We are committed to pursuing economic growth that is inclusive and broad-based, so as to 
create opportunities for all of our people to enjoy the benefits arising from REI.  We endorse our officials' report on inclusive growth, which recogni sed structural reform as an important approach WT/L/777 
Page 2  
 
towards inclusive growth, mapped existing APEC act ivities that support inclusive growth, and set out 
possible areas for APEC to focus on.  We note th at APEC economies and some APEC work streams 
are already focusing on human capital development through education and worker retraining, and 
fostering innovation and entrepreneurship throu gh improved business environments that benefit 
companies of all sizes, especially SMEs.  We will direct our efforts to foster inclusive growth in 
APEC along two broad dimensions.  First, we will facilitate structural adjustments that enhance 
opportunities for all to benefit from growth, focusi ng on facilitating SME deve lopment and enhancing 
the functioning of labour markets, while ensu ring that these support enhanced opportunities for 
women workers and entrepreneurs.  Second, we will strengthen social resilience, focusing on 
enhancing individual economic security and desi gning incentive-compatible social safety net 
programmes. 
  We instruct officials to make further progr ess on existing inclusive growth work streams, 
better crystallise the key issues and identify existing gaps of the inclusive gr owth agenda for APEC, 
develop a multi-year capacity building programme on  inclusive growth, and report on the progress at 
AMM in 2010.  They should do so in close cons ultation with relevant bodies including the Committee 
on Trade and Investment (CTI), the Economic Co mmittee (EC), the Senior Officials' Meeting 
Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) and its subfora, such as the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG), and the SME Working Group (SMEWG).   We look forward to China's hosting of the 5th APEC Human Resources Development 
Ministerial Meeting in 2010, which will provide a good platform to discuss the design and 
implementation of inclusive growth programmes, including labour market and skills development 
policies that result in long-term improvements in  labour productivity, a nd enhance cooperation to 
address the social dimensions of economic downturns.  We also look forward to contributions to the 
inclusive growth agenda by the EC High Level Policy Roundtable and the 17th SME Ministerial 
Meeting, which will both be hosted by Japan in 2010. 
 
Promoting Sustainable Growth 
 
 We will seek to ensure that economic growth is  consistent with sustainable development.  
Anthropogenic climate change is one of the bigg est challenges facing the world.  As APEC's key 
response to addressing this challenge, our sustaina ble growth agenda will include improved access for 
Environmental Goods and Services (EGS), deve lopment of EGS sectors of APEC economies, 
enhancing energy efficiency and sustainabl e forest management and rehabilitation.  
  The EGS market has a key role to play in fo stering sustainable growth and advancing efforts 
to combat climate change.  The Intergovernmental  Panel on Climate Change has highlighted that 
many climate-friendly technologies and goods are alr eady commercially available and that more are 
expected to be commercialised soon.  These technol ogies will benefit from trade liberalisation.  The 
World Bank has estimated that the removal of barriers for trade in four basic clean energy 
technologies (i.e. wind, solar, clean coal, and effici ent lighting) alone could boost their trade by as 
much as 13 per cent.  We welcome APEC's effo rts to enhance understanding of remanufactured 
products, which reuses inputs and uses less energy than manufacturing new goods.  
  We will explore ways to reduce existing barri ers to trade and investment, and refrain from 
introducing new barriers in EGS.  We will also take steps to facilitate the diffusion of climate-friendly 
and other EGS technologies, including through ec onomic and technical cooperation (ECOTECH) and 
capacity building activities.  We welcome the laun ch of the APEC EGS Information Exchange to 
promote greater transparency, information sharing,  collaboration, and dissemination of EGS in APEC 
and globally.  We endorse APEC's EGS work progr amme which has helped to raise awareness of 
what needs to be done to facilitate trade, investment  and development in EGS, and instruct officials to 
report progress on this work at AMM 2010.  We rea ffirm that an open global trade and investment 
system is central to our clean development objec tives and market opening in the WTO would advance  WT/L/777 
 Page 3 
 
 
our climate and energy security goals.  We recogni se that joint research, development, deployment 
and transfer of low and zero emission technologies will be crucial in our shared efforts to address 
climate change.   Energy efficiency improvements have resulted in reductions in energy consumption of more 
than 50 per cent over the last 30 years.  We will advance work on sharing best practices in energy 
efficiency, with a view to deploy cleaner and more efficient technologies in power generation, 
industry, transportation, and residential and comme rcial buildings.  We welcome the implementation 
of the voluntary APEC Peer Review on Energy  Efficiency, and encourage our economies to 
participate in this Review.  We note that Japan  will host the 9th APEC Energy Ministers Meeting in 
2010, which is an opportunity to explore diversifie d approaches to clean energy production and use. 
 
Supporting Trade Finance 
 
 We welcome the efforts made by APEC economie s over the past year in response to the trade 
finance situation.  These include the progress in expanding the Asia-Pacific Trade Insurance Network 
(APTIN) through the establishment of additional b ilateral re-insurance agreements among some 
APEC member economies, as well as discussions to ta ke stock of the situation and to exchange 
experiences and best practices.  APEC has continue d to monitor the trade finance situation in the 
region by conducting a follow-up APEC Trade Finance Survey.  We are heartened that the situation in 
the APEC region has improved since the last survey  in July 2009, and that economies expect the 
situation to ease further over the next 6 months .  Recognising the importa nce of facilitating trade 
finance to supporting the recovery of the global econom y, we encourage officials to sustain efforts to 
strengthen capabilities in the area of trade finan ce.  We call upon APEC members to continue the 
implementation of necessary policies and measures to  support trade finance and to continue their 
collaboration with their Finance counterparts. 
 
Supporting the Multilateral Trading System 
 
Resisting Protectionism 
 
 We remain concerned over the threat of pr otectionism to our economic recovery.  We 
reaffirm the concrete commitments undertaken at the Singapore Meeting of Ministers Responsible for 
Trade (MRT) in July 2009 to keep our markets open and resist all forms of protectionism, including the extension of our commitment to refrain from ra ising new barriers to investments or to trade in 
goods and services to the end of 2010, and beyond if n ecessary.  We have promptly notified the WTO 
of any measures that fall short of these commitments.  We will continue to do so and urge our trading 
partners to do the same.  Furthermore, we w ill continue to exercise maximum restraint in 
implementing measures that may be considered to be WTO consistent if they have a significant 
protectionist effect and promptly rectify such measures where implemented.  
Reviewing Commitments to Open Markets  
  We considered the Trade Review report comp iled by the APEC Secretariat with inputs from 
the WTO, ABAC and other relevant bodies, and revi ewed the trade, fiscal and monetary measures 
undertaken by APEC economies since the July 2009 MRT.  We note that a pick up in trade and 
investment were contributing to the recent rebound in global economic activity, but evidence of an 
increasing use of trade remedies indicates that risks relating to protectionism and recovery remain.  
We stand by our commitment at the MRT that such  reviews will continue in 2010 and instruct the 
APEC Secretariat to work closely with the said instit utions for the reviews.  We are pleased that the 
APEC region as a whole has remained relatively op en to trade throughout the global crisis.  We 
recognise the need to calibrate overall policy setti ngs, including temporary support measures, to the 
pace of recovery and improvement in the global economy.  We will continue to undertake regular WT/L/777 
Page 4  
 
review of our policies that impact on trade and inv estment, and reiterate our pledge to maintain free 
and open markets.  
Advancing the DDA  
  We remain determined to ensure an ambitious  and balanced conclusion to the Doha Round in 
2010, based on the progress already made, including with  regard to modalities.  To this end, we must 
translate recent political commitments into tangibl e progress in the negotiations.  The Seventh Session 
of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva from 30 November to 2 December 2009 will be an 
important opportunity to take stock of progress.  We  support further intensification of work to reach 
the 2010 target.  In order to do so, we will accelerat e efforts to advance into the endgame negotiations 
in Agriculture and NAMA, and advance in parallel Services, Rules, Trade Facilitation and all other 
remaining issues in the DDA in accordance with agreed Geneva workplans.  We urge greater 
substantive engagement at all le vels utilising all possible avenues,  including text-based negotiations 
under the Geneva Chair led process and direct enga gement between Members to evaluate and close 
the remaining gaps.  We note the importance of co ntinued involvement and stand ready to engage 
directly to ensure momentum is maintained.  We ag ree to direct our officials to exercise pragmatism 
and maximum flexibility on all issues to narrow ga ps and secure convergence on a final package.  
This will pave the way for Ministers to asses s the situation no later than early 2010.  
 
Supporting the WTO 
 
 APEC economies will step up our coopera tion with the WTO.  We endorse the 
recommendations by the APEC Secretariat on specific areas for cooperation with the WTO, including greater collaboration in the Aid for Trade agenda.  We  have instructed the APEC Secretariat to update 
us on progress in these cooperative efforts.  We pl edge our support for the 7th Session of the WTO 
Ministerial Conference and the basic principles of full participation, inclusiveness and transparency 
that will guide its deliberations.   We reiterate our support for the early accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO and underline the importance of effort s to expedite these negotiations. 
 Reaffirming Commitment to Bogor Goals 
 
 We reaffirm APEC's commitment to the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment.  
APEC will work towards reducing barriers not only  within APEC, but also with other non-APEC 
economies.  Noting that the industrialised economi es in APEC are targeted to achieve the Bogor 
Goals by 2010, we agree to the establishment of a credible and meaningful mechanism by which to 
assess their achievement of the B ogor Goals as set out in the Work Plan of the Assessment on 
Achievement of the Bogor Goals by the APEC Industrialised Economies .  We commend officials for 
their preparatory work in this re gard, and instruct them to report on the final result of this assessment 
at AMM 2010.  
 We reaffirm the importance of APEC's Indivi dual Action Plans (IAPs) and IAP Peer Reviews 
as a means to drive progress towards the Bogor Goals.  We endorse the 2009 IAPs. We welcome the successful conclusion of the 2009 IAP Peer Review s of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, 
Papua New Guinea, the Philippin es, the Russian Federation, Thailand and Viet Nam, and the 
successful completion of the third cycle of IAP Peer Reviews which commenced in 2007. 
  WT/L/777 
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Exploring Building Blocks towards a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific 
 
 We welcome work in 2009 to continue to explore building blocks towards a possible Free 
Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTA AP) in the future.  These include the Further Analytical Study on 
the Likely Impact of FTAAP  which illustrated the possible econom ic benefits and challenges of 
establishing an FTAAP;  the updated inventory of issues that would need to be addressed as part of a 
preparatory process for a possible FTAAP including, inter-alia, the possible pathways to an FTAAP;  
and the expansion of the study on identifying co nvergences and divergences in APEC's regional and 
bilateral trade agreements to cover additional agreemen ts and chapters.  We instruct officials to take 
forward this work by exploring a range of po ssible pathways to achieve FTAAP and provide a 
progress update to AMM 2010. 
 
Accelerating Regional Economic Integration 
 
 We reaffirm our commitment to accelerating wo rk on APEC's core agenda of strengthening 
REI.  We have taken a comprehensive appro ach to REI in 2009, focusing our work on trade 
liberalisation "at the border";  improving the business environment "behind the border";  and 
enhancing supply chain connectivity "across the borde r".  We welcome the updated matrix of steps to 
accelerate REI on a multi-year basis.  We also welcom e the steps taken by officials to promote greater 
convergence in the areas of Rules of  Origin (ROOs) and services.  We instruct officials to widen their 
work to promote convergence on other core FTA ch apters, including investment, trade facilitation, 
and standards. 
  We endorse the 2009 Committee on Trade and Inv estment (CTI) Annual Report to Ministers, 
which provides an overview of APEC's work in advancing the Bogor Goals and strengthening REI. 
 
INTEGRATION " AT THE BORDER " 
 
Making Rules of Origins More Business Friendly 
 
 We welcome the work to make ROOs more business-friendly, to address the high level of 
divergences among regional and bilateral free trade agreements and the resulting compliance costs 
faced by businesses.  We applaud the participation of Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, 
Singapore and the United States in the Self-Certificati on of Origin Pathfinder.  This adds to APEC's 
ongoing work to simplify ROOs documentation and procedures, such as the existing Electronic 
Certificate of Origin Pathfinder.  We also note the agreement to collect information on other elements 
related to this agenda, including reasonably long validi ty periods and waivers of certificates of origin 
or declarations for low value shipment s.  We instruct officials to conti nue with their work in this area 
and provide a progress update at MRT 2010.   
Facilitating Trade in Products and Services 
 
 We welcome progress under the APEC Services Initiative (ASI), which seeks to facilitate 
services trade in the Asia-Pacific.  We endorse the APEC Principles for Cross-Border Trade in 
Services, which will build greater convergences am ong APEC economies with respect to their policy 
frameworks relating to trade in services.  We also endorse the Services Action Plan which will 
provide direction to APEC's work to promote trad e in sectors which are in the interest of member 
economies.  Taken together, the Services Principles and the Services Action Plan will provide a strong 
foundation for APEC's future work to promote services trade. 
  We note the 2004 Statement to Implement APEC Policies on Trade and the Digital Economy , 
and instruct officials to continue work to promote the digital economy.  WT/L/777 
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INTEGRATION " BEHIND THE BORDER " 
 
Improving Ease of Doing Business and Implementing Structural Reform 
 
 We have launched an APEC Ea se of Doing Business (EoDB) Action Plan that identifies 
priority areas for reform, sets targets to meas ure improvements in these areas, and includes capacity 
building work programmes to achieve the targets.   We have set an APEC-wide aspirational target  to make it 25 per cent cheaper, faster and 
easier to do business within APEC economies by 2015 in the five priority areas, determined with 
reference to the World Bank's EoDB indicators.  The five areas are:  Starting a Business, Getting 
Credit, Enforcing Contracts, Trading Across Bord ers, and Dealing with Permits.  These targets 
represent tangible potential gains for businesses, for example:  this could potentially reduce on 
average the cost of importing and exporting a contai ner of goods by up to US$450;  reduce on average 
the time taken to start a business by one week; an d remove on average five procedures to obtain a 
construction permit.  As an interim target, we aim to achieve a 5 per cent improvement by 2011.  We 
task officials to monitor and regularly review pr ogress towards these targets, and urge officials to 
work closely with ABAC to identify ways in wh ich the private sector can contribute towards the 
achievement of these aspirational targets.  We al so welcome the capacity building work programmes 
led by "champion economies" and designed to assist APEC in achieving the targets collectively.  The 
champion economies are New Zealand and the Unite d States for Starting a Business, Japan for 
Getting Credit, the Republic of Korea for Enforcin g Contracts, Hong Kong, China and Singapore for 
Trading Across Borders and Singapore for Dealing with Permits.   We endorse the EC's 2009 APEC Economic Polic y Report (AEPR), with its timely coverage 
of regulatory reform.  As the Leaders' Agenda to  Implement Structural Reform (LAISR) will end in 
2010, we instruct officials and the EC to c onduct a stocktake of achievements under the LAISR 
Forward Work Programme (FWP) in 2010 and explore the possible scope of a post-LAISR agenda to 
respond to medium-term challenges, such as the need to foster more  inclusive growth.  Structural 
reform is essential to strengthen long-term gr owth, ensure inclusive growth and narrow the 
development gap between economies.  It comple ments trade and investment liberalisation and 
contributes to promoting deeper REI. Progress on stru ctural reform will be critical for ensuring a 
sustained recovery in APEC economies from the gl obal economic crisis.  We will strengthen APEC's 
focus on its structural reform agenda.   We welcome the completion of various traini ng courses, workshops, seminars, roundtables 
and studies in 2009 under the LAISR FWP and the report on prioritisation of capacity building 
programmes in EC as a response to the request by the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Structural 
Reform (SRMM) held in August 2008, and look forward to the commencement of the process of 
voluntary review of economies' institutional framewo rks and processes supporting structural reform, a 
seminar on the sidelines of EC1 discussing the economic impact and benefits of structural reform in 
key infrastructure sectors, and ABAC's proposal to  hold a roundtable on procedural fairness in 
competition cases at the Competition Policy and Law Group (CPLG) meeting. 
 
Facilitating Investment 
 
 We welcome the work undertaken, with the help  of the Policy Support Unit (PSU), to identify 
a set of key performance indicators and establish a methodology to measure progress in the 
implementation of APEC's Investme nt Facilitation Action Plan (IFAP).  We look forward to this work 
being finalised by MRT 2010.  We note the completion of the second phase of the study on core elements of investment agreements and encour age further capacity building activities to improve 
member economies' abilities to formulate high quality investment agreements. 
 Strengthening Intellectual Property Rights  WT/L/777 
 Page 7 
 
 
  We reaffirm the importance of effective, co mprehensive and balanced intellectual property 
systems for the sustainability and promotion of knowledge-based activities and investments.  We 
recognise the desirability of taking comprehensive and strategic approaches to building a global IP 
infrastructure for the promotion of innovation, in cluding human resource development, cooperation in 
patent examination, and development of IT-based networks among IP agencies.  We also recognise 
the importance of building capacities in this area.  We welcome the Report on Copyright Limitations 
and Exceptions , as well as the progress achieved in patent cooperation, including the work done on 
the APEC Cooperation Initiative on Pa tent Acquisition Procedures.  We  will take concrete steps to 
stop the proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods through cooperative efforts such as the APEC 
Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative and relate d capacity building activities, and information 
sharing between IPR authorities and stakeholders.  We  note the efforts to advance work on exploring 
ways to address satellite and cable signal theft.    We reaffirm the importance of ongoing inte rnational discussions, especially in the WTO, 
including the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the UN Convention on Biological 
Diversity, regarding genetic resources, and the pr otection of traditional knowledge and folklore, and 
encourage continued work on awareness raising and advancing shared objectives regarding these 
issues.  
Aligning Standards and Improving Conformance  
 
 We will reinforce our engagement in intern ational standardisation activities and promote 
greater alignment with relevant international stan dards where appropriate, particularly in areas that 
would contribute to innovation, safety, security, and solutions to energy and environmental issues.  
Recognising the importance of the involvement of a ll stakeholders in standardisation activities, we 
instruct officials to develop a long-term strategy on business engagement in standards and conformity 
development in 2010.  We encourage continue d discussions on improving and better aligning toy 
safety requirements.   We welcome the study on models and practic es deployed by APEC economies in helping 
their businesses, particularly SMEs, to gain a ccess to information on technical regulatory 
requirements and overcome technical barriers to trade.  We look forward to the outcomes of these 
efforts at SOM1 in 2010, and the development of a b est practices model.  We also welcome efforts to 
promote awareness and understanding of the APEC Pathfinder initiative on the APEC Electrical and Electronic Equipment Mutual Recognition Arrangement (APEC EE MRA), and the commitment by regulators implementing the APEC EE MRA to fac ilitate trade of these products through greater 
dialogue and cooperation. 
 INTEGRATION " ACROSS THE BORDER " 
 
Enhancing Transport, Logistics and Digital Connectivity 
  We welcome progress made on trade logis tics reform through enhanced supply-chain 
connectivity and endorse the Supply-chain Connectivity (SC) Framework which has identified eight chokepoints in regional supply chains and suggest ed actions to address these chokepoints.  We 
welcome in particular the Transparency for Ease of Doing Logistics Business  initiative and APEC's 
efforts to make available online contact points a nd websites on the full range of issues affecting door-
to-door delivery.  We also welcome work to st udy the economic impact of enhanced multi-modal 
connectivity to improve the flow of goods and ser vices across land, air, and sea.  We commend the 
strong collaboration among the CTI, EC and Trans portation Working Group (TPTWG) in developing 
the SC Framework.  WT/L/777 
Page 8  
 
 We welcome the PSU's report on developing measurable performance targets for the SC 
Framework.  We task officials to further deve lop the SC Framework in 2010, in close cooperation 
with relevant APEC fora and ABAC, and look forward to outcom es of the first phase of its 
development by end 2013.  
 Beyond physical connectivity, we recognise the importance of connectivity in the digital 
realm in advancing REI, and instruct officials to continue work on enhancing digital connectivity by 
building upon work carried out on the Digital Prosperity Checklist.   Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) has emer ged as a useful approach to infrastructure 
development in the APEC region.  In this regard, we encourage officials to explore the feasibility of 
utilising PPPs for the upgrading of transport infrast ructure that contributes to the enhancement of 
supply chain connectivity in the region.  
Enhancing Trade Facilitation 
 
 We commend the good progress made by officials in the implementation of the Second Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP II).  We welcome the TFAP II progress report which sets out the approach and methodology to be used for quantifying  the impact of TFAP II.  We are pleased with the 
assessment that APEC is overall on track to reduce trade transaction costs by an additional 5 per cent 
by 2010, having already reduced transaction costs by 3.2 per cent between 2006 and 2008.  We note 
that several recommendations to improve upon TFAP II have been made in the progress report, and 
instruct officials to consider and report on this at  MRT 2010.  We look forward to the final assessment 
of the TFAP II outcomes in 2011.   We note the progress made towards the implementation of international trade "Single 
Windows" by member economies, and encourage c ontinued experience sharing and discussion of 
implementation issues in this area.  
Securing Regional Trade 
 
 We support the findings and recommendations of the APEC Trade Recovery Programme 
(TRP) Pilot Exercise.  The pilo t exercise demonstrated the act ions that would help economies 
minimise the economic impact of a disruption to the supply chain and facilitate the quick recovery of 
trade in the event of a terrorist attack.  We rec ognise the need to build communication mechanisms to 
activate and execute the APEC TRP and the im portance for economies to establish Authorised 
Economic Operator (AEO) programmes, as advocated  by the World Customs Organisation (WCO).  
We also note the value of having trusted relationships  based on existing international concepts that the 
APEC TRP embraces, and of recognising AEO programm es to gain mutual benefits to facilitate trade 
and trade recovery.  The findings and recommendations  of the APEC TRP Pilot Exercise will provide 
economies with useful insights into processes to f acilitate the resumption of trade expeditiously and 
smoothen processes such as customs and border controls.  
 We further welcome the creation of an AEO working group at the Sub-Committee on 
Customs Procedures (SCCP), and instruct SCCP to address the development of AEO programmes among APEC economies in alignment with the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards. 
 
Strengthening the Digital Econom y and Information Networks 
 
 We welcome the work to examine how elemen ts of the Digital Prosperity Checklist can 
contribute to increasing trade flows and achieving br oad-based economic growth.  To this end, we 
instruct officials to expand on this work by facilitating implementation of the Checklist among APEC 
economies, including by completing a gap analysis  of current APEC work on elements in the  WT/L/777 
 Page 9 
 
 
Checklist and a survey of APEC economies' practices  in relation to the policy goals outlined in the 
Checklist.  We look forward to receiving a progress report at MRT 2010.   We encourage efforts towards sustaining ICT- enabled economic growth, using ICT to address 
socio-economic issues, and realising the goal of achi eving universal access to broadband in all APEC 
economies by 2015 as set out at the 7th APEC Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunication and 
Information Industry.  We recognise the progress made during the second phase of the APEC Digital 
Opportunity Center (ADOC 2.0) Initiative.  
 We endorse the APEC Cooperation Arrangement for Cross-Border Privacy Enforcement and 
associated documents, a key step in establishing a voluntary system of cross-border privacy rules 
based on the APEC Privacy Framework.  We encour age all economies to continue the development of 
this system to allow for effective privacy protecti ons while avoiding barriers to information flow and 
the promotion of trade, investment and economic growth.  Strengthening Economic and Technical Cooperation 
 
 We reaffirm our commitment to a strategic, goal-oriented and multi-year approach to capacity 
building programmes that assist member econom ies in achieving the Bogor Goals and common 
prosperity.  We also reaffirm our commitment to the Manila Framework, which serves as the basis for 
the implementation of the ECOTECH activities outline d in the Osaka Action Agenda.  We note the 
progress made in strengthening the policy agenda of the SCE, including towards the development of a comprehensive framework to guide ECOTECH activiti es and a reform plan of SCE's operations.  We 
welcome the contributions made by Japan, the Un ited States and Chinese Taipei to the APEC Support 
Fund (ASF) to promote energy efficiency activities in  the region, the contribution of Russia to the 
ASF to enhance cooperation in strengthening huma n security and promoting science and technology 
development, as well as Australia's contributions to both the ASF General Fund and the Subfund on 
Human Security which will increase capacity bu ilding initiatives focused on developing economies.  
We also welcome the contributions ma de by China and Korea to the ASF. 
  We welcome Singapore's launch of a seri es of capacity building programmes aimed at 
specific priority areas such as trade facilitation an d services over the next three years.  We also 
welcome the activities of the APEC Climate Centre to promote capacity building on climate science 
and research.  We note the SCE's efforts to strengt hen APEC's engagement with other multilateral 
organisations and ABAC, and welc ome the Programme of Independen t Assessments of all SCE Fora. 
 Enhancing Human Security 
 
Countering Terrorism 
 
 The recent terrorist attacks in the region remi nd us of the international imperative to fight 
against terrorism.  We commend the active role th at the Counter Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) has 
continued to play to improve the environment for saf er trade and investment in the APEC region.  We 
reaffirm the importance of our initiatives in areas such as trade security, port and aviation security, 
anti-terrorist protection of energy and information infrastructure, countering terrorism financing, and 
protecting the food supply from terrorist contaminatio n, and in this regard encourage all economies to 
update their Counter Terrorism Action Plans (CTAPs ), which will provide useful information for 
identifying capacity building needs a nd prioritising actions accordingly.  
  We recognise the need for aviation security with in the APEC region.  We look forward to the 
upcoming APEC Air Cargo Security Workshop , which will be held in Singapore during the summer 
of 2010.  We commend APEC's efforts to promote further exchange of best practices and lessons 
learned in the area of air cargo security, and to e xplore available technological solutions to the unique 
challenges of air cargo security. WT/L/777 
Page 10  
 
 
Preparing for Emergencies 
 
 Recent catastrophes in the region - such as the devastating typhoons that hit China, Japan, the 
Philippines, Chinese Taipei and Viet Nam, and th e earthquakes in Indonesia – remind us of the 
importance of APEC's work in disaster management , relief and recovery.  We welcome the renewed 
mandate and work of the Taskforce on Emergency Pr eparedness (TFEP) this year on strengthening 
business and community resilience, enhancing PPPs, and reducing disaster risks.  We welcome the 
outcomes of the 3rd APEC Emergency Management CEOs' Forum held in Hanoi in September, and 
the APEC principles on disaster damage and loss assessment and the APEC principles on integrating 
disaster education into school curricula.  We also welcome the upcoming Workshop on the 
Framework of Long-Term Capacity Building for Disaster Risk Reduction  hosted by Chinese Taipei 
from 30 November to 1 December 2009 to encour age collaboration between regional institutes and 
strengthen regional emergency mana gement capacity, as well as Japan's offer to host the 4th APEC 
Emergency Management CEOs' Forum in January 2010.  We encourage the establishment of the 
APEC SME Crisis Management Center proposed by Chinese Taipei as a mechanism to help APEC 
SMEs enhance their capacity to ov ercome the impact of crises. 
 
Improving Food Security 
 
 Responding to food security challenges in the region remains a major priority for APEC.  
Building on the APEC Senior Officials' Work Plan on Food Security , we instruct relevant APEC sub-
fora to undertake capacity building projects and othe r practical initiatives, re view best policies and 
best practices, and report back to APEC Leaders in 2010.  We welcome Japan's offer to lead a review 
of APEC food security activities.  We recognise the importance of promoting technologies that make food storage, transportation and distribution systems more efficient.  We encourage the adoption of 
WTO consistent and science-based regulation of new advanced technologies, including 
biotechnology, to promote utilisation of such technologies.  We recognise the importance of promoting efficient and well-functioning markets in  agricultural products and avoiding trade policies 
that impede the international trade of these products .  We will ensure that we use our fresh water, 
marine and terrestrial resources efficiently and sust ainably.  We express support for the L'Aquila Joint 
Statement on Global Food Security.  
 
Strengthening Food Safety 
 
 We commend the considerable progress made to improve information sharing and the 
coordination of APEC food safety capacity buildi ng efforts, including the successful meeting of the 
Food Safety Cooperation Forum (FSCF) held in July  2009.  We also note the successful inaugural 
workshop by the FSCF Partnership Tr aining Institute Network (PTIN) on Examination of Hot Issues 
in Risk Analysis  held in August 2009 in Singa pore.  The network seeks to build capacity in the use of 
international standards and best practices in food safety for regulators, manufacturers and producers.  
We strongly support activities planned for the FSC F and the FSCF PTIN in 2010, including the 
launch of the first reproducible training modules in 2010.  We note APEC's collaboration with the 
World Bank on food safety and encourage future co llaboration with international organisations on 
future APEC food safety activities.  
Ensuring Health 
  We reaffirm the strong relationship between h ealth, economic development and security.  The 
emergence of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic underscores the need for international cooperation to prepare 
for and respond to public health threats.  We commend APEC for facilitating regional dialogue on 
H1N1 and other pandemic response and encour age continued work to strengthen pandemic 
preparedness, including the leveraging of health innova tions such as health information technology, to 
strengthen health systems, treatments, and disease surveillance.  We further support APEC expert  WT/L/777 
 Page 11 
 
 
collaboration to address the possible health impacts of environmental change and the impact of the 
global financial crisis on health systems.  We ur ge economies to recognise that investing in health 
systems and health innovations have significant economic benefits due to the increased productivity 
of a larger and healthier workforce.  In this regard, we also recognise the Health Working Group 
(HWG)'s recommendations regarding HIV/AIDS pr evention and management in the workplace. 
 
Improving Governance and Transparency 
 
 We recognise that corruption is a complex ec onomic, political and social challenge that 
threatens democracy, sustainable development, the rule  of law, the welfare and health of our citizens, 
our environment, and global security across our  economies.  We welcome the Anti-Corruption and 
Transparency Experts' Task Force's Singapore D eclaration on Combating Corruption, Strengthening 
Governance and Enhancing Institutional Integr ity, as well as the APEC Guidelines on Enhancing 
Governance and Anti-Corruption.  We encourage ec onomies to implement measures to give practical 
effect to the Declaration and Guidelines.  We also welcome the outcomes of the Workshop on 
Applying APEC Anti-Corruption Principl es, Preventing Conflicts of Interest , co-hosted by China and 
the United States in October 2009 in Beijing.   We commend the comprehensive capacity building efforts with regard to enforcement of laws 
and regulations, setting of strategies, systems of compliance and promoting standards of governance 
and ethical behaviour.  In view of the threat of cross-border illicit criminal networks and its linkages 
with corruption nodes, we encourage member economies, where applicable, to ratify the UN 
Conventions against Corruption and Transnational Or ganised Crime, and take measures to implement 
their provisions, in accordance with economies' legal frameworks.  
Welcoming Sectoral Initiatives 
 
Small and Medium Enterprises 
 
 We welcome the outcomes of the 16th APEC SM E Ministerial Meeting held in Singapore on 
8-9 October 2009, which discussed policies and initiatives to help SMEs overcome the global 
economic crisis and access global markets.  We not e the progress made in the implementation of the 
four-year SMEWG Strategic Plan 2009-2012 and welc ome various projects and initiatives under the 
strategic plan's six priority areas.  In this rega rd, we encourage the training of SMEs in good business 
practices that will ensure their sustaina bility as suppliers to overseas markets. 
 
Transport 
 
 We welcome the outcomes of the 6th APEC Tr ansportation Ministerial Meeting held in the 
Philippines from 27-29 April 2009.  We support the call by Transport Ministers for APEC to recognise the long-term benefits of open markets and economic integration, and to continue to work 
towards agreements or other means to achieve air services liberalisation in the region.  We also 
support the activities undertaken by member economi es to enhance maritime trade, including the 
APEC Port Services Network (APSN) Conference on  Port Development held 2-3 November 2009 in 
China to facilitate communication and cooperati on among ports and related sectors, and promote 
greener, safer and more secure development of po rts and shipping industries in the Asia-Pacific 
region.  We also support the call by the Transport Mi nisters to encourage further concerted efforts to 
fight against piracy and welcome the activities unde rtaken by TPTWG, including the piracy workshop 
held on 29 July 2009 in Singa pore.  We encourage the TPTWG to continue their work to promote 
sustainable transportation, including the sustainabl e expansion of air transport services through the 
work of the APEC Aviation Emissions Task For ce, cooperation with the Energy Working Group to 
identify and adopt energy efficient policies, prac tices, and technologies, and with the Agricultural 
Technical Cooperation Working Group to promote the development of next-generation biofuels. 
 WT/L/777 
Page 12  
 
Women 
 
 We welcome the recommendations arising fro m both the 7th Gender Focal Point Network 
Meeting (GFPN) and the 14th Women Leaders Netw ork (WLN) Meeting held in Singapore, in 
particular, that to maximise economic opportunities fo r women by investing in targeted policies and 
programmes that promote gender equality and wome n's economic security in the current economic 
climate.  These include facilitating women's access to capacity building programmes, technology and 
infrastructure;  and supporting measures to prom ote safe employment for women in informal and 
vulnerable sectors, access to financing, growth in women-led SMEs, and support for social enterprises 
for women.  We welcome the efforts of the Human Resources Development Working Group 
(HRDWG) to provide new inform ation on promising practices in ensuring gender equity in 
mathematics education during the 2010 mathema tics education conference supporting essential skills 
of the 21st Century workplace.  
Tourism 
 
 We welcome the efforts of the Touris m Working Group (TWG) in facilitating the 
development of the tourism industry in the As ia-Pacific region.  We recognise the valuable 
contribution that tourism makes during all stages of th e economic cycle, and that tourism is vulnerable 
but responds quickly to changed economic circumstan ces.  As we recover from the crisis, tourism will 
be a key driver for sustained economic growth, in creasing business activity and integration across the 
region. 
 
Marine Resources and Fisheries 
 
 We note that Peru will host the 3rd APEC Oceans-related Ministerial Meeting (AOMM3) in 2010, which will build on the Bali Plan of Action and the recent review of its implementation.  We 
welcome the ongoing work of the Fisheries Wo rking Group and Marine Resource Conservation 
Working Group which will support the AOMM3.  We  also welcome the holding of the World Ocean 
Conference and support the resulting Manado Ocean D eclaration.  We underline the importance of the 
role of the ocean in climate change, and an inte grated coastal and ocean management approach to 
prepare for and adapt to the effects of climate cha nge as well as other threats on the coasts and oceans.  
We welcome the discussion of climate change, ecosy stem based management and food security at the 
AOMM3.  
Engaging the Business Community 
  We support continued public-p rivate dialogues and interacti ons to improve the business 
environment in our region.  In th is regard, we welcome the enhan ced engagement between ABAC and 
APEC officials this year, particularly in the areas of resisting protectionism, accelerating REI, and improving the ease of doing business in APEC.  We express our appreciation to ABAC for their continued work to provide views, proposals and reco mmendations to help ensure tangible benefits in 
the pursuit of APEC goals. 
 
 APEC's established dialogues with the automotiv e, chemical and life sciences industries have 
also helped APEC move forward our trade and inv estment liberalisation and facilitation agenda.  In 
this regard, we welcome and support the continua tion of the work by the Life Sciences Innovation 
Forum (LSIF) to assess returns to the economy of investment in health innovations, and create an 
enabling environment for private sector investme nt in these innovations.  We commit to further 
deepening work streams to support health innovati on in 2010.  We commend Singapore for being the 
first economy to complete the LSIF Enablers of Investment Checklist and encourage other APEC economies to complete the checklist in order to id entify capacity building needs.  We welcome the 
development of a multi-year strategic plan and pr ojects for achieving regulatory harmonisation, where 
appropriate, for both medicines and medical devi ces.  We welcome the report and recommendations  WT/L/777 
 Page 13 
 
 
of the 11th APEC Automotive Dialogue (AD) and in particular, the AD's strong support for the 
commitment made by APEC Leaders in November  2008 to refrain from raising new barriers to 
investment or trade in goods and services, or impl ementing WTO inconsistent measures, particularly 
in the automotive sector.  
 We welcome the active role of the Mining T ask Force (MTF) in fostering cooperation in 
mining, particularly its constructive contribution to efforts to enhance sustainable development in the 
sector.  We encourage relevant APEC fora to initiate a productive dialogue with the European 
Commission towards establishing a sci ence-based methodology for the classification of nickel alloys 
as dangerous substances. 
 
 We encourage the Chemical Dialogue (CD) to continue promoting best practices and 
information exchange in chemicals regulation and management in the APEC region, and welcome its 
contributions to the global Strategic Approach to  International Chemicals Management (SAICM).  
We further encourage the CD to share information to assist members with implementation questions 
on chemicals management regulations, including the European Union's Registration, Evaluation, and 
Authorization of Chemicals (REACH), and move forward work that contributes to sustainable 
growth.  We note the work of the CD on a comm on approach to simplify ROOs in the chemicals 
sector, including the completion of a comparative st udy on ROOs in the 32 FTAs in the region, and 
consideration of exploratory work on the de velopment of business friendly guidance on ROOs. 
 Strengthening the APEC Secretariat 
 
 We will continue to strengthen the opera tional and institutional capacities of the APEC 
Secretariat.  We welcome the successful selection a nd appointment of the Secretariat's first Executive 
Director for a fixed term (FT-ED).  The establishment of the FT-ED post constitutes a huge step 
forward in our ongoing efforts to professionalise the Secretariat and to ensure that it is well-equipped 
to meet the growing demands of member economies.   We commend the Secretariat's efforts to improve  the fiscal sustainability of the Secretariat 
and in supporting the efforts of the Budget a nd Management Committee to introduce project 
management reforms to make APEC's project assessment and monitoring processes more transparent 
and aligned with our strategic goals.  We approve the recommenda tion that APEC maintain three 
project approval sessions per year.  We welcome the new branding strategy, together with the mission 
statement and tagline, and commend the Secretariat' s efforts in implementing the revitalised APEC 
Communications and Outreach strategy.  We encour age the APEC Secretariat to seek collaborative 
technology solutions similar to the HRDWG wiki website, which can serve as a model for 
collaborative communications and the dissemination of Open Education Resources.  
  We are encouraged by the PSU's performance since it commenced operation in August 2008.  
Since its establishment, the PSU has grown to ten staff members and completed thirteen research projects.  The PSU has provided useful contributions  to APEC's policy deliberations on logistics and 
effective responses to the global economic crisis as well as the assessment of APEC's progress 
towards the implementation of our trade and inv estment facilitation action plans.  Studies on 
Improving Food Markets in APEC Economies and G ood Regulatory Practices for Goods and Services 
Necessary or Desirabl e for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation  will inform the development 
of APEC work in these areas.  We are pleased with the PSU's creation of the APEC economic 
indicators database, which for the first time provi des members with a single source of comprehensive 
data relating to APEC economies,  including bilateral trade and investment linkages.  We are also 
pleased with the PSU's paper on Trade Creation in the APEC Region .  We remain committed to 
supporting the PSU post-2010.  We further welcom e any voluntary contributions from member 
economies in this regard.  WT/L/777 
Page 14  
 
 We welcome the contribution to the APEC S ecretariat by the US-APEC Technical Assistance 
and Training Facility (TATF) in helping to strengthe n the Secretariat and its operations, train staff to 
improve project quality and the project management  process, upgrade the Secretariat's information 
technology, and promote cooperation with the ASE AN Secretariat.  We al so welcome Australia's 
Effectiveness Grant. 
 
 We endorse the 2009 SOM Report on APEC's work programme including the recommendations contained therein, note the 2009 Annual Report of the APEC Secretariat Executive 
Director, and approve the 2010 APEC Budget a nd member contributions.  We welcome the 
preparations underway for APEC 2010 in Japan. 
 
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