On 24 May 2015, the meeting of APEC trade ministers in the Philippines concluded – one of the key points of APEC’s annual programme. Trade ministers traditionally meet in the middle of the year to discuss ways to stimulate, facilitate and liberalise trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
On 24 May 2015, the meeting of APEC trade ministers in the Philippines concluded – one of the key points of APEC’s annual programme. Trade ministers traditionally meet in the middle of the year to discuss ways to stimulate, facilitate and liberalise trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
For Russia, APEC is in fact the only platform in which the country participates in integration processes within the Asia-Pacific region through forming the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). The aims of the FTAAP were outlined back in 2006, and yet the process only gained real momentum in 2014, when China took over APEC chairmanship. China and the United States, two key regional economies, initiated and led a “strategic study” of the possible configuration and separate aspects of this free trade area. Unique not just in terms of content but also in terms of participants (an unprecedented meeting of the United States and China at the same negotiating table), work on the strategic study kicked off in 2015. For the first time, Russia was able to take part on an equal footing with other economies in the discussion of the Asia-Pacific integration agenda. Deputy Minister for Economic Development of Russia Stanislav Voskresensky clearly defined the key themes and priorities for Russia within the research framework. These priorities meet both Russian interests in the Asia-Pacific region and integration agenda of the Eurasian Economic Union.
There are many trade areas in the Asia-Pacific that have various rules for regulating trade and investment. In addition, so-called mega blocs are taking shape in the region, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (12 APEC countries) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (10 ASEAN nations + 6 ASEAN partners). Both large-scale projects initiated by the United States and China, respectively, are seen as a possible basis for the establishment of the common Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. However, these agreements cannot address the needs of all APEC economies. In this situation, Russia has to develop mechanisms to coordinate integration projects within the Asia-Pacific region and Russia’s top integration project – Eurasian Economic Union. Thus, Russia stands for the open nature of integration and for promoting the interests and further involvement of the Eurasian Economic Union in the discussion of regional integration at the APEC platform.
The discussion of ‘interconnectedness’ within the Asia-Pacific and beyond its borders, which is closely linked to integration, has been at the heart of the APEC agenda over the past few years. The term ‘interconnectedness’ refers to the shaping of integrated space for trade and investment, the development of transport infrastructure and logistics, and the formation of an effective institutional environment. Interconnectedness also dominates the integration agenda of Russia and its partners, including the Eurasian Economic Union and China. The APEC platform allows Russia and China to continue their integration initiatives, while also developing infrastructure and investment cooperation. Russia and China plan to agree on specific measures to fulfil the recent cooperation agreement to coordinate the establishment of the EEU and the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Another matter important for Russia on the APEC agenda is the approaching deadline for reporting on the performance of obligations undertaken by the APEC economies in Vladivostok in 2012 to reduce applied tariffs to 5% or less on 54 environmental products. These obligations became a major breakthrough in APEC’s activity over the past few years, and this year APEC leaders will have to demonstrate how they fulfilled the decisions adopted during the Russian chairmanship. Russian exports of environmental products to APEC economies are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and consist mostly of equipment – generators, gas turbines, optical equipment and components. The key markets are China, Korea and the United States.
The APEC forum unites different economies, with their own interests often conflicting with those of other nations, and thus helps them promote and defend their goals in the format of active cooperation. Russia, which is currently concentrating its potential on Eurasian integration, should take advantage of this opportunity, speak in favour of inter-bloc cooperation and open participation to all stakeholders in the processes of regional integration in the Pacific Asia.
