Surabaya, Indonesia, 20 - 21 Apr 2013

2013 Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible

for Trade
Statement

inShar e
3


1. We, APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT), met on 20-21 April 2013 in Surabaya,
Indonesia under the chairmanship of H.E. Mr. Gita Irawan Wirjawan, Minister of Trade of the
Republic of Indonesia.
2. We welcomed the participation in the meeting of the Deputy Director-General of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) Mr. Alejandro Jara, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC),
the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), the APEC Secretariat, and the Member of the Board (Minister) Responsible for Trade
of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Mr. Andrey Slepnev.
3. The tenuous global economic recovery has strained on economies, trade, investment and future
prosperity. But history has shown that the Asia-Pacific region bounces back from challenges
and has become stronger and more resilient.
4. It is only befitting that APEC's theme for 2013, Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global
Growth, becomes our call to actiontowards a vision of an Asia-Pacific region that is stronger,
more buoyant and more robust. And we are called upon to remain resilient and to fulfill our role
as the engine of the world's economic growth.


The Global Economy: Looking for Long-term Global Growth Prospects
5. With significant policy actions, the global economy is on a recovery path and tail risks have
greatly been diminished. Under this circumstance, the Asia-Pacific region continues to be
emerging as the strategic and economic pivot of the world. Significant milestones have been
reached through APEC. Through cooperation in trade and investment, APEC has allowed
economies to capture the benefits of their comparative advantages, supply chains and markets.
APEC economies have taken numerous concrete and bold trade and investment liberalisation
measures unilaterally and collectively. Also, APEC economies are committed to further
promoting structural reforms. The measures taken by APEC members have contributed
significantly to the sustained economic growth in the region ever since.
6. But a number of challenges still lie ahead of us. Slow global economic growth, resulting in
decreasing of global trade and investment, connectivity, education, natural disasters, health,
poverty and environmental issues, including climate change, could impact our region's
economic landscape. These challenges require collective solutions for the benefit of all our
people.
7. We share a conviction that we need to be part of a better, more integrated, seamless Asia-
Pacific: a regional space where shared responsibility drives our efforts at solving increasingly
complex challenges and creating opportunities for a prosperous and stable future. We will strive
to bolster our cooperation in order to effectively address challenges as they come and to tap
economic potentials of the region. APEC needs to remain attuned to further opportunities to
promote sustainable growth, improve living standards and reduce poverty.
8. As the basis of our discussions here in Surabaya, we shared the understanding of the current
state of the global economy and considered the following specific efforts:


Continuing support for the multilateral trading system
9. We adopted separate statement for this purpose.


Continuing on Attaining the Bogor Goals
10. We reaffirm our commitment to attain the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment
towards 2020. We reiterate our commitment to address remaining issues that will help APEC
economies to achieve the Bogor Goals. This includes commitment to bridge and to identify the
development gap and assist developing economies to achieve the Bogor Goals by 2020. We
also encourage developed economies to take more concrete actions towards attaining Bogor
Goals according to the outcomes of the Report on APEC's 2010 Economies' Progress towards
the Bogor Goals.
11. We reaffirm the importance of APEC's meaningful contribution, intellectual inputs and
leadership guiding the processes of FTA/RTA development in the Asia-Pacific region. We will
continue to promote broader integration which includes trade and investment liberalization and
facilitation in the APEC region. Taking note of various ongoing capacity building efforts within
the framework of setting the stage for an eventual FTAAP, we agreed to report regularly to
APEC and share information on developments related to FTA/RTA initiatives, including on the
Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with a view
to promoting transparency of various FTA/RTA initiatives and analizing the issue of openess
and convergence within the APEC framework.
12. We strongly support APEC progress in implementation of the action plan framework on capacity
building needs initiatives (CBNI).
13. We welcome the trade policy dialogue to discuss the economic impact of local content
requirements in promoting economic growth and employment. We take note of the initiative to
continue discussion among officials aimed at enhancing better understanding of the issues and
formulating a way forward.
14. We reaffirm APEC Leaders' commitment in Vladivostok in 2012 to promote green growth and to
seek practical, trade-enhancing solutions to address global environmental challenges, and their
commitment in 2011 to reduce tariffs on environmental goods to 5 percent or less by the end of
2015, and we emphasize concrete actions to facilitate steady implementation of our Leaders'
commitments. We are convinced that such liberalization will assist us in achieving the Bogor
Goals and further contribute to our sustainable development and green growth goals. We
further emphasize Leaders' instruction in Honolulu in 2011 to undertake capacity building
activities relevant to implementing these actions, including exchanging views, experiences, and
best practices to promote EGS trade and investment.
15. In view of APEC's priorities this year on "attaining the Bogor Goals" and achieving
sustainable growth with equity, we note the aspiration of some economies to further liberalize
trade in goods, so as to address development needs, reduce poverty, and facilitate the
involvement of SMEs in global supply chains, and that consensus should be built to advance
this aspiration. We take note of Indonesia's proposal to include CPO and rubber in the APEC
EGs List.
16. We welcome APEC's activities in the area of services trade liberalization and facilitation,
including through expansion of the Services Trade Access Requirements (STAR) Database.
We also welcome the ongoing practical, business-orientated work aimed at identifying good
practice regulation of trade and investment in key services sectors
17. We confirm the importance of improving the investment climate in the APEC region, including
through continued implementation of the APEC Investment Facilitation Action Plan. We instruct
officials to intensify efforts to address impediments to increased flows of investment in the
region, including those relating to private financing of infrastructure. We welcome the Public-
Private Dialogue on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and encourage officials to work with
the private sector to build and improve upon CSR practices, including transparency.
18. With regard to the progress of the implementation of APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform
(ANSSR), as endorsed by APEC Leaders in 2010 to promote more balanced, inclusive, and
sustainable growth and development through targeting behind-the-border barriers to trade, we
note the ongoing work of each APEC Economies to report their individual plans in the 2013
ANSSR Mid-Term Progress Report. We trust that the report would reflect the accomplishments
of APEC economies, including their challenges in implementing their plans in structural reform
towards the achievement of their objectives in 2015.
19. We applaud continuous efforts to implement our Leaders' Agreement in 2011 to strengthen by
November 2013, the implementation of Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) initiative, particularly
in the areas of ensuring internal coordination of regulatory work, assessing regulatory impact,
and conducting public consultation. We support the activities that have been carried out to
further this work on strengthening the implementation of the GRP including through capacity
building activities and collaborative work with other fora/sub fora and international organizations.
We encourage officials to further discuss how to strengthen the implementation of GRP beyond
2013, taking into consideration the circumstances of individual economies.
20. Industry Dialogues continue to enrich our agenda and provide concrete deliverables that
contribute to attaining Bogor Goals. We welcome new work to develop principles for life
sciences development; facilitate the commercialization of research; and initiatives to support the
establishment of a Center of Excellence for regulatory sciences cooperation. We look forward to
concrete deliverables to assure the quality and integrity of the medical products supply chain.
We note the Chemical Dialogue's intention to deepen work on regulatory cooperation and
convergence and welcome the status report on the implementation of GHS in the APEC region.
We also welcome the work plan to advance regulatory cooperation and convergence in the food
sector.
21. We reaffirm our commitment to promote effective, non-discriminatory, and market-driven
innovation policy, including through developing and finalizing implementation practices by
October 2013.


Achieving Sustainable Growth with Equity
22. We note the efforts made by APEC this year in the area of Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs, including youth and women entrepreneurs). SMEs, including entrepreneurs and women,
are crucial driving force for employment and development of the economy. To ensure that,
SMEs, many of which are women-owned can participate in and benefit from international trade,
we reaffirm the importance of addressing trade investment and regulatory barriers for SMEs,
and support efforts to enhance SMEs' global competitiveness, business ethics, and their
participation in Global Value Chains. We instruct officials to continue dedicating efforts and work
in these areas.
23. Recognizing the importance of cross-border mechanisms to disseminate low-carbon
technologies to achieve sustainable growth, we take note a Joint Crediting Mechanism Seminar
to be held during SOM3.
24. We acknowledge that collaboration between government and private sector, particularly farmers,
private investment and the agri-food trade are critical to achieving food security in the region.
We welcome the focus of the Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS) in aligning farmers,
the private sector and governments in the achievement of global food security through strategic
partnership that comprises of constructive involvement of the private sector, farmers and
government. We note the importance of not applying WTO-inconsistent trade measures in
pursuing food security.
25. We instruct officials and encourage the private sector to continue pursuing this initiative and to
develop a strategic, results-oriented and comprehensive 2020 Road Map to achieve the long-
term goal of setting up a food security structure by 2020 sufficient to provide lasting food
security to economies in the Asia-Pacific region. We underscore the importance of PPFS and
Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) coordination on food security issues related to
international trade and investment. We agree that agricultural trade plays a key role in achieving
food security. To this end we reaffirm the value of an open and rules-based multilateral trading
system as it provides predictability and stability in agricultural trade. We agreed on the need to
sustain the benefits of globalization and open markets, highlighting the crucial importance of
maintaining science-based standards, rejecting protectionism and encouraging the
development of regionally integrated markets. We also welcome the efforts to increase
agricultural production and productivity on a sustainable basis through boosting investment and
actively adopting innovative technologies.
26. We recognize the continued efforts of the Food Safety Cooperation Forum (FSCF) and its
Partnership Training Institute Network (PTIN) in developing food safety capac ity in the region,
contributing to the alignment of domestic regulations with international standards. This work is
strengthening food supply chains in the region and providing new opportunities for trading in
safe and quality food. We welcome the establishment of the Food Safety Incident Network
(FSIN) which will enhance our capacity to deal with food safety events in the region.
27. We welcome the successful launch of the Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and
Innovation (PPSTI). We instruct officials to finalize the institutional building process and identify
the structure of PPSTI's key priority work areas by AMM in October 2013. Recognizing the
importance of science and technology cooperation in fostering innovative growth by continuing
to identif y practices to promote effective, non-discriminatory and inclusive innovation policy, we
instruct officials to take concrete steps in the PPSTI to enhance cooperation among key
innovation stakeholders government, academia, and businesses.
28. Recognizing the increasing role of the oceans and fisheries in our daily livelihood and their
contribution to economic growth, we welcome the initiatives and activities promoting the
mainstreaming of ocean-related issues in APEC in various areas of cooperation, including
through existing regional initiatives such as the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs,
Fisheries and Food Security ranging from, among others, exchanging best practices in
combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing to food security, sustainable
fisheries management and trade, including trade in sustainably harvested fisheries products
and aquaculture, energy, tourism, science and technology, transportation and marine
connectivity in achieving sustainable and inclusive growth.
29. We are also mindful that healthy oceans are crucial for achieving sustainable ocean and marine
resources and therefore we encourage officials to continue working on ways to address
challenges in this area.
30. We take note of Indonesia`s initiative to develop an APEC Ocean-related Activities Work Plan
for 2013 that promotes cross-fora collaboration and will be circulated after SOM 2 for further
discussion at SOM 3. The work plan would be essential to propose and implement concrete
activities, initiatives and capacity building projects on the mainstreaming of ocean-related issues
in APEC.
31. We recognize there is a clear and important role for APEC member economies to show
leadership towards rationalizing and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage
wasteful consumption, fulfilling the commitment in reducing fossil fuel energy consumption as
outlined in the 2011 Leaders' Declaration. In this respect, we note Indonesia's initiative to hold a
Conference on Clean, Renewable, and Sustainability in the Asia Pacific prior to the AELM,
which focuses on boosting investments in the renewable energy sector; capacity building and
technical cooperation; and fostering cooperation among APEC member economies and with
private sector partners in clean and renewable energy development projects.


Promoting Connectivity
32. We are committed to working towards a more connected and resilient Asia-Pacific to ease the
flow of goods, services, capital, and people in the region. Greater physical, institutional and
people-to-people connectivity will strengthen regional economic integration, contribute to
economic growth as well as being a significant factor towards enhanced trade.
33. We instruct Senior Officials to develop a unifying, forward-looking, and ambitious APEC
Framework on Connectivity this year to deepen and broaden the region's connectivity around
and across the Pacific Ocean and within APEC's archipelagic and continental regions.
34. The Framework will also bring greater coherence, and add impetus to ongoing connectivity-
related work in APEC, including physical infrastructure, the Supply Chain Connectivity
Framework, trade facilitation, structural reform and good regulatory practices, the cross-border
education initiative, science and technology, as well as the movement of people, which may
include tourists, business people, professionals and workers, women and youth.
35. A key pillar of the connectivity framework is the development of physical infrastructure. We are
committed to facilitating growth in our region through infrastructure development and investment,
in line with the five growth attributes of the 2010 APEC Leaders' Growth Strategy: Balanced,
Inclusive, Sustainable, Innovative, and Secure Growth.
36. Well-designed, sustainable and resilient infrastructure development and investment can
enhance economic growth and increase productivity, and provide significant positive flow-on
effects including improved access to markets, job creation and manufacturing growth.
37. APEC economies need to develop and to improve existing transport, information and
communications, energy and other physical infrastructure to deepen regional economic
integration and help ensuring sustained growth. Given the scale of infrastructure requirements
across a number of sectors in our region over the next decade and beyond, we emphasize the
importance of private sector involvement to realize these needs.
38. We recognize the importance of developing a coordinated approach to promoting infrastructure
development and investment within and between our economies through the creation of a multi-
year plan to improve physical connectivity in Asia-Pacific. We emphasize the importance of
building capacity to design, develop and execute public private partnerships. We also urge
economies to emulate, adapt and link best practices and models existing in the region and
create value added to those work building on APEC strengths and sub-regional linkages.
39. We request officials to develop an overarching framework that outline work streams and key
areas of focus and establish practical and concrete ways to overcome current impediments to
infrastructure investment and development. We recognize that the work streams that flow from
it will complement the important work in this area being undertaken in the G20 and other fora.
40. To improve physical connectivity, we suggest that the Transportation Ministers produce a
concrete outcome with a view to promoting more sustainable and resilient transportation related
infrastructure in the coming 8th TMM in Tokyo.
41. We also reaffirm the growing importance of submarine cables to regional and global
connectivity, and encourage increased awareness and continued cooperation within APEC.
42. We support continued work on the APEC Supply-Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plans
towards achieving our shared commitment of a ten percent improvement in supply chain
performance in terms of reduction in time, cost, and uncertainty of moving goods and services
through the Asia-Pacific region by 2015, taking into consideration circumstances of individual
economies. We welcome the interim assessment of the Supply Chain Connectivity Framework
Action Plan undertaken by APEC's Policy Support Unit that shows some progress has been
made in the overall performance of supply chain transactions. In this regard, we reiterate the
importance of further simplification of customs procedures in line with the international
standards such as ones developed by the World Custom Organization (WCO). We look forward
to the multi-year project on Enhancing Logistic Performance through Training and Networking
for APEC Local/Regional Logistics Sub-providers.
43. We note the progress made to adopt a more systematic approach to reaching our supply chain
performance target through needs analysis and capacity building, and to this end, we request
officials to inject new momentum to their work in addressing existing chokepoints in supply
chains, to ensure we are able to fulfill our ambitious APEC-wide 2015 supply chain performance
target, in particular to facilitate SMEs participation in global trade.
44. We share the importance to enhance value chain resilience, and to advance work to establish
more interconnected and resilient APEC region. We emphasize the importance of work on
improving reliability of supply chains connectivity through effective risk management and
response.
45. We reaffirm the importance of enhancing the emergency preparedness and disaster resiliency
of APEC economies, communities and businesses. In this context, we stress the need for
cooperation between crisis management centers within the APEC framework. We also welcome
the efforts on elaboration and consideration of the APEC Emergency Response Travel
Facilitation Initiative to explore the opportunities to build a more safe and secure APEC Region.
46. We agree that deeper education cooperation will serve to strengthen regional ties, build people-
to-people links and promote economic development through knowledge and skills transfer.
47. We are committed to implement the 2012 Leaders' instruction on promoting cross border
education cooperation by developing on a voluntary basis cross-border cooperation and
facilitation of exchange in education services within APEC in enhancing the mobility of students,
researchers, education providers, and the existing network of bilateral agreements.
48. We welcome APEC's work in developing a work plan on promoting cross border education
cooperation and instruct officials to advance the work to enhance the mobility of students,
researchers, and education providers in the APEC region on a voluntary basis, while taking into
consideration the circumstances of individual economies.
49. We welcome the continued enhancement of the APEC Business Travel Card Scheme to further
facilitate the mobility of business people in the region and promote people-to-people
connectivity.


Strengthening APEC
50. We are fully committed to maintaining APEC's profile as the premier forum for advancing free
and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific. Enhanced business engagement in APEC is
important in achieving APEC's goals. We welcome ABAC's close collaboration with and
contribution to APEC's work. We note the significant value that public-private activities have
made to APEC work, and instruct officials to find ways to increase these interactions with ABAC
and other stakeholders, including ways to synergize work and work programs.
51. Recognizing the vital role of capacity building in strengthening and supporting the trade and
investment liberalization and facilitation agenda, we reaffirmed the Leaders' commitment to the
implementation of Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH). We instructed officials to
evaluate the effectiveness of capacity building activities across APEC and to identify ways to
ensure these activities deliver more meaningful, targeted and effective results, particularly for
developing APEC economies.


Towards Bali
52. We welcome the report of the Chair of the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) on the
progress of APEC work. We encourage Senior Officials to continue their efforts by building
upon our discussion in Surabaya and to bring forward meaningful deliverables by the time we
meet again for the APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in October. We will make the AMM in Bali
an occasion to explore the future of a more resilient Asia-Pacific and submit recommendations
to Leaders.