On May 21, Public Private Dialogue Between Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (hereinafter referred to as APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade and APEC Business Advisory Council (hereinafter referred to as ABAC) Members was held in Bangkok, Thailand. The meeting was chaired by Jurin Laksanawisit, deputy prime minister and commerce minister of Thailand, APEC Chairmanship for 2022. Participants to the meeting were Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative of International Trade Negotiations Wang Shouwen, trade ministers or representatives of other member economies of APEC, and some representatives of APEC Business Advisory Council. As ABAC member and chair of  the Sustainable Working Group of ABAC, Chairman of Sinochem Holdings Corporation Ltd., Frank Ning, attended the meeting online in Beijing.

At the meeting, APEC trade ministers and ABAC representatives aired their views on the topic of “The accelerated construction of the FTAAP(Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific) in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond ”.

Frank Ning said, from the business point of view, our company do business and  carry out import & export trade every day; therefore, we need more than ever a more open market and freer trade so as to achieve economic integration of the Asia-Pacific region at a faster pace.

Frank Ning pointed out that the world today is faced by many challenges related to economy, politics and Covid-19, and the growth of the global economy is slowing down. The Asia-Pacific region, as a crucial engine of global economic growth, shall make more efforts. FTAAP is a good goal, but and a long-term plan that needs to be advanced by us through pragmatic cooperation.

At the meeting, Frank Ning proposed four recommendations on how to advance the construction of the FTAAP. 1. APEC economies should implement the existing regional free trade agreements, especially the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which came into effect earlier this year, and work together to promote more free trade agreements negotiations and deliver more relating training seminars for enterprises, especially SMEs, as well as improve the utilization of free trade agreements so as to bring real benefits to enterprises. 2. Last year, China’s formal application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (CPTPP) showed its resolve to make greater contribution to the economic integration of the Asia-Pacific region, and has brought an entirely new outlook for the FTAAP. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) represent two pathways to realize the FTAAP. We hope that these two agreements will embrace members from the interested economies in an open and inclusive manner, increase the number of free trade partners, and expand the scope of FTAAP. Both the Chinese business community and the Asia-Pacific business community expect China to join the CPTPP as soon as possible, and is willing to make continuous efforts to accomplish this goal. 3. The Covid-19 has impaired the global supply chain, for example, the global supply chain of many enterprises has been forced to shorten as the products cannot be successfully delivered to all regions, resulting in an increase in cost. For this, we call on the governments of APEC economies to take effective measures to reduce tariff, ensure unimpeded flow of goods, and help enterprises truly realize efficient, free and convenient trade. 4. We need to achieve inclusive development in the Asia-Pacific region. We should give attention to and provide support to SMEs and vulnerable groups, take the initiative to build a high-standard FTAAP which will benefit all people in the region, and integrate the notion of the Asia-Pacific community into the construction of the FTAAP.