[asia-apec 462] APEC 1999 - It's Not Worth It

[Gatt Watchdog]

APEC 1999 - It's Not Worth It - Aziz Choudry

Organisation has already begun to expose and oppose the APEC 1999
offensive on Aotearoa/New Zealand.  Auckland, Wellington,
Christchurch and Rotorua are all to host APEC meetings throughout
1999, culminating in the APEC Summit in Auckland in September next
year.  The government announced in March that it has budgeted
expenditure of $50 million for the summit - including $18.11
million for security alone.  It is a very expensive pre-election
photo opportunity which will be shouldered by the taxpayer and in
particular, the people of the Auckland region.

Since the 1994 APEC Summit in Indonesia, the Aotearoa/New Zealand
APEC Monitoring Group has been involved with ongoing monitoring,
research, education and media work on the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum, and the implications of its agenda for Aotearoa
and other APEC member countries.  The group launched the first
phase of its education campaign specifically leading up to next
year's hosting of the APEC process, entitled: "APEC: It's not
worth it!" and calling on the government to withdraw its
invitation to host the meetings.

We have also produced a leaflet: "APEC + MAI = Corporate Rule"
which we encourage people to copy and distribute to friends,
family and mailing lists.

Members of the Aotearoa/New Zealand APEC Monitoring Group have
attended alternative meetings on APEC in Jakarta (1994),
Osaka/Kyoto (1995), Manila (1996), Vancouver (1997) as well as
monitoring the official APEC meetings themselves and their impact
on the cities that have hosted the events.  We have worked closely
with organisations like GATT Watchdog (the Monitoring Group is a
member of the GATT Watchdog group), the New Zealand Trade Union
Federation (TUF), and Corso.  Previous APEC Summits have caused
massive disruption to the lives of those living in the cities that
have hosted them. They have shut down huge areas of cities, and
the Summits have been accompanied by "clean-ups" and "crackdowns"
aimed to present a false image of the host country to the
international entourages that attend.  In the Philippines, this
included the wholesale demolition of squatter communities and the
forced relocation of countless thousands of poor Manila dwellers,
so that President Ramos could hide the visible effects of the
Philippines 2000 development model from view.  In all cases it has
involved appalling traffic delays, poor returns for many local
businesses because of the militarisation of the areas around the
meetings, and human rights abuses, including the suppression of
domestic opposition to APEC.

The major emphasis of the work of the next year will be education.
Growing awareness of the threat to the peoples of Aotearoa from
the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), and the continued
opposition to the New Right agenda which has been imposed on us by
successive governments provides a solid platform on which to build
opposition to APEC 1999.

The campaign challenges New Zealand's hosting of APEC next year in
the broader context of domestic and international moves to remove
barriers to free trade and investment in the interests of
transnational corporations and the other major economic powers in
the global economy.

Much groundwork on APEC has already been laid in recent years by
the Monitoring Group, GATT Watchdog, Corso, TUF and others at a
local, national and international level including the publication
of resources, public meetings and speaking tours, media work,
resourcing and lobbying MPs and local body politicians, resourcing
and supporting unions, tangata whenua, unemployed, women, and a
range of organisations and individuals on the issue, and
organising the 1996 Trading With Our Lives alternative forum on
free trade held just prior to the APEC Trade Ministers Meeting.

We want to reach as many people in as many sectors of society as
possible.  The official APEC/government hype machine will be
cranking out all sorts of claims about the benefits of trade and
investment liberalisation.  We need to be prepared to expose and
oppose this hype.  Anyone who can help feed out the material that
is already available, and future leaflets, fact sheets and other
resources should get in touch with us at PO Box 1905,
Christchurch.

There are plans to hold a conference to expose and oppose the
free market free trade economic agenda and its impact on Aotearoa
in September 1999 in Auckland.  This will have a strong focus on
linking domestic issues - the "New Zealand Experiment", the new
right agenda, and sovereignty issues - and those in the Pacific -
with the global push towards economic liberalisation promoted by
forums like APEC.

Dates for 1999 APEC Meetings - so far:

Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) I and related meetings -
Wellington, 1-9 February

SOM II and related meetings - Christchurch, 29 April - 7 May

Trade Ministers Meeting - Auckland, 28-30 June

SOM III - Rotorua, 5-13 August

Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers Meeting - Auckland, 9-10
September

Leaders Summit - Auckland, 13 September

Contact:

Aotearoa/NZ APEC Monitoring Group
Box 1905 Christchurch,
AOTEAROA (New Zealand)
Phone 64 3 3662803
Fax   64 3 3668035
Email: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz