[asia-apec 561] THE RAG-- Issue No. 1, July 1998 (part 2 of 3)

[PAN Asia Pacific]

*************THE RAG************* 
(Resistance Against Globalisation)
The Monthly Newsletter of the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly
Issue No.1, July 1998

In this issue:
-The APEC Roadshow hits Malaysia
-Mahathir: Globalisation only for the rich
-The Third Women's Conference Against APEC
-Monsanto and AHP merge in latest multi-billion dollar merger
-The MAI drowns in a flood of protest
-Report on APEC (Finance Ministers' Meeting and Trade Ministers'
Meeting) 
-Notes From the APPA Secretariat



Monsanto and AHP merge in latest multi-billion dollar merger

Monsanto and American Home Products merged this June to form a
combined company with market capitalisation in excess of US$96
billion.  Monsanto has just completed a US$6 billion buying spree of
seed companies and its merger with AHP makes the combined company
the largest agrochemical/life-industry company in the world.  This
marks a giant advance in the ability of Monsanto to control global
agriculture.

The Monsanto-AHP deal comes in the wake of a series of massive
buy-outs and mergers between such corporations as NationsBank and
BankAmerica, SBC Communications and Ameritech, Daimler-Benz and
Chrysler, and the US$37 billion merger of WorldCom and MCI.  In
June, the largest merger in American history took place when
Travelers Group bought-out Citicorp for US$70 billion.  The new
company, Citigroup, will force other mergers in the financial
services industry as corporations struggle to compete.  Company
spokesmen say the merger will improve customer services, but others
argue that the merger will limit competition and further reduce
services to low-income communities.  According to one US community
activist, "I am honestly scared at the thought of them getting
together, getting bigger, getting even less interested in anyone who
is not already part of their world." (info from WashingtonPost,
WSJ)

The MAI drowns in a flood of protest

This April, ministers at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development were to finalise the Multilateral Agreement on
Investments (MAI ).  It is intended to remove obstacles to
international investment among its signatories by eliminating
investor performance requirements and discriminatory treatment of
investors by host nations. It would allow any investor to sue the
government of its host nation if it considers laws or regulations to
be discriminatory and detrimental to its profits. The MAI would
therefore disable regional development and national measures to
protect the wellbeing and culture of people, create employment,
safeguard small business, conserve resources and protect the
environment. And while developing countries were not party to the
MAI negotiations, it is clearly the intent of MAI supporters to
force the agreement upon the developing world once it is
finalised. 

Public outcry against the MAI has been fierce. Protests and
international and national campaigns successfully exposed the MAI
and forced government officials to respond.  In a clear effort to
appease the opposition, the Ministerial Statement conceded that "the
MAI must be consistent with the sovereign responsibility of
governments to conduct domestic policies." 

The statement goes on to say that "Ministers note the increased
convergence of views on the need for the MAI to address
environmental protection and labour issues" and that "Ministers are
committed to a transparent negotiating process and to active public
discussion on the issues."  (with info from
http://www.islandnet.com/~ncfs/maisite)

Forcing governments to listen

The solidarity in opposition to the MAI negotiations is
representative of the growing resistance to globalisation across the
world.  In a parallel gathering to the Second Summit of the Americas
in April, over 1000 deleg ates met to oppose free-trade inthe
hemisphere.  In early May, thousands of peasants, agricultural
labourers, tribal people, and industrial workers took to the streets
of Hyderabad, India to demand India's withdrawal from the World
Trade Organisation (WTO).  To coincide with the May Ministerial
Meeting of the WTO, Global Street Parties against the WTO were held
in over 35 cities across the world, and 50,000 landless, homeless,
and unemployed joined in a protest march into Brasilia, Brazil.

Governments had to respond.  At a press conference during the WTO
Ministerial, Charlene Barshefsky, the US Trade Representative,
remarked, "The greatest threat to the global system comes . . . from
the failure of public trust and the public suspicion of the system,
the public mistrust of secretive organisations."   Of course,
Barshefsky would not admit that it is the global system itself that
the public is reacting against.   The US is now looking at ways to
soften public resistance to its agenda.  We should brace ourselves
for a major public relations campaign and more long battles.

REPORT ON APEC

The Finance Ministers' Meeting 
(Kananaskis, Canada, May 23-24, 1998)

It is somewhat surprising that this year's Finance Ministers'
Meeting proceeded so smoothly.  Certain APEC nations, in particular
Malaysia, have been openly grumbling about IMF policies, currency
speculators, and ratings institutions.  Yet, there was firm
consensus in the Ministers' statement on the need to continue with
financial deregulation and market liberalisation.

Discussions during the meeting focussed on two dimensions of the
regional crisis: restoring stability and promoting recovery and
developing and strengthening financial markets.  Within the first,
Ministers acknowledged the deep social impacts of the crisis and
urged that social safety nets be expanded in the worst hit areas. 
But they stopped short of offering any new analysis or solution,
choosing instead to applaud the IMF's activities in the region and
to support the "movement towards open markets."

The Ministers' statement on developing and strengthening financial
markets calls for improved supervision and prudential regulatory
frameworks to  prevent future crises.  But it also urges nations to
pursue market deregulation and liberalisation in order to increase
foreign investment and restore confidence.  For APEC Finance
Ministers, the objective is "to promote freer flows of capital while
maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability." This begs the
question: If free flows of capital generated instability, why would
you want to make them any freer?  Of course, this question will
never be addressed by a forum whose stated objective is
liberalisation.

The Trade Ministers' Meeting 
(Kuching, Malysia, June 22-23, 1998)

The Trade Ministerial had a little more colour than its financial
counter part.  This was bound to happen with the presence of US
Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.  APEC's consistently soft
discussions retreated in the face of hard-nose negotiations and
lobbying by the US and Japan.

Disagreement between the US and Japan centred upon the early
voluntary sectoral liberalisation (EVSL) agreements that were
reached last year in Vancouver.  Nine sectors are scheduled for EVSL
by next year: environmental goods and services, fish products,
forest products, medical equipment, energy, chemicals, toys, gems
and jewelry, and telecommunications.  Barshefsky is aggressively
promoting EVSL "as a package" backed by a strong APEC consensus so
that the US can advance it in the WTO.  Once in the WTO, the
commitments would no longer be voluntary, and all WTO nations would
have to comply with the tariff reductions.  The US used APEC for
similar purposes when it pushed through the Information and
Technology Agreement in the WTO.

Japan, on the other hand, wants comprehensive negotiations where
deals can be made to avoid liberalisation in certain sectors in
exchange for facilitation and cooperation or liberalisation in
others.  But the final statement of the meeting did not concede to
Japanese demands, offering flexibility only in terms of timelines
for implementation.  As Barshefsky said, "We will come out of
Kuching quite well-positioned to move forward on these initiatives
and ultimately take them to the WTO so we can get a larger group of
economies participating."  The "package" approach to liberalisation
makes APEC a very useful tool for the US's strategy to open world
markets. (with info from AP and Reuters)     


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The Rag is the monthly newsletter of the Asia Pacific Peoples'
Assembly ( APPA).  All organizations and individuals from within
and outside of Mala ysia that are concerned about globalisation are
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