ABAC Meeting Sees Positive Results: OfficialThe meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in Shanghai, from October 18 to 21, has made positive achievements, said Qin Xiao, chair of the meeting, at a press conference held at the Shanghai International Convention Center Sunday morning.The ABAC has submitted to APEC economic leaders a report, which is entitled "Common Development Through Market, Capacity Building and Full Participation," according to Qin, who is vice president of the China International Trust and Investment Corp. (CITIC). In light of the APEC vision and its work program for the year 2001, the ABAC report includes four proposals as follow: -- APEC economies must accelerate progress towards trade and investment liberalization as stated in the Bogor Goals; -- ABAC strongly advocates that APEC demonstrate its support for the launch of a new round of World Trade Organization talks at the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha in November; -- ABAC alerts leaders to the impending threat of financial contagion. APEC should counter the current economic uncertainty with decisive measures to stimulate economic growth and accelerate financial reforms; -- A balanced approach to globalization that combines market opening, capacity building and full participation is essential because these three elements reinforce one another. "To support these messages, ABAC believes that it is imperative for APEC economies to further generate public awareness and take results-oriented policy measures for sustained economic growth and shared prosperity," the report says. According to Qin, since its founding, the ABAC has submitted five reports to the APEC economic leaders and the council has played a unique role as an official channel for dialogues between leaders and business sectors in the region. |
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