From rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org Fri May 8 19:37:22 1998 From: rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org (Roberto Verzola) Date: Fri, 08 May 1998 19:37:22 Subject: [asia-apec 427] No patents on rice! No patents on life! Message-ID: <199805081141.TAA07528@phil.gn.apc.org> We are collecting signatures for the statement below which will be presented later by one of the signatories to a WTO meeting in Geneva. Kindly inform us right away if you want your organization's name added to this list. Obet Verzola Philippine Greens ---------- NO PATENTS ON RICE! NO PATENTS ON LIFE! Statement from Peoples' Movements & NGOs in Southeast Asia to the World Trade Organization May 1998 Rice is life in Southeast and other parts of Asia. It has been the cornerstone of our food, our languages, our cultures - in short, our life - for thousands of years. Over the centuries, farming communities throughout the region have developed, nurtured and conserved over a hundred thousand distinct varieties of rice to suit different tastes and needs. The Green Revolution spearheaded by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the 1960s resulted the loss of this diversity from farmers' fields and the spread of wholly unsustainable farming systems which require high energy inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, so-called 'high-yielding' seeds, irrigation systems and supervised credit schemes. In this process, farmers lost control of their own seeds, their own knowledge and their own self-confidence. Today, people are struggling throughout the region to rebuild more sustainable agriculture systems hinged on farmers' control of genetic resources and local knowledge. In the past, the whole cycle of the rice economy was under the control of farmers themselves, from production through distribution. Today, global corporations are taking over the rice sector. With the expansion of industrial farming, global corporations - and their local subsidiaries=20 - established their predominance in the rice sector through research programs, interference in policy-making, and their exports of farm machinery, pesticides and fertilizers. Now, through the use of genetic engineering, they are increasing their control over our rice cultures. The kinds of rice that we are promised through this technology threaten the environment and public health. For example, herbicide tolerant rice will lead to increased pesticide use. Rice incorporating Bacillus thuringiensis genes will disrupt ecological balances. Both of these are unsafe for consumers and will lead to allergic reactions, increased antibiotic resistance and other health hazards. New hybrids - such as those based on the so-called 'Terminator Technology' - will force farmers to buy rice seed every planting season from transnational corporations. The extension of the patent system through the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) gives global corporations the 'right' to claim monopoly ownership over rice - and life - itself. Companies in the industrialized world have already started to claim intellectual property rights (IPR) on rice. A derivative of IR-8,=20 IRRI's 'miracle rice', was monopolised through IPR in the United States already in the 1980s. Recently, RiceTec, a company in Texas, has taken out a patent on basmati rice. This is biopiracy against India and Pakistan. The same company and many others in the US are now marketing what they label as Jasmine rice. This is not only intellectual and cultural theft, it also directly threatens farm communities in Southeast Asia. Jasmine rice comes from Thailand, where it is grown today by over five million resource-poor farmers who are trying to develop ecological alternatives for Jasmine rice production and marketing. We have to strengthen local groups to assert farmers' and community rights to counter these trends in the region. For this reason, we make the following demands: 1. WTO memberstates must recognise that farmers' and community rights have precedence over intellectual property rights and that IPRs destroy biodiversity. Many initiatives to develop and implement farmers' and community rights are underway in Southeast Asia, and must be supported and strengthened. 2. We encourage the memberstates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support the initiatives of India and the Organisation for African Unity to resist the extension of IPR systems and to develop community rights at the local and national levels. 3. Genetic engineering of rice and other foods should be prohibited. 4. Agriculture and biodiversity must be taken out of the WTO regime, especially the TRIPS Agreement. 5. No patents on rice! No patents on life! PHILIPPINES 1. MASIPAG (Farmer/Scientist Partnership for Development) 2. CEC (Center for Environmental Concerns) 3. PDG (Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Dev't Group) 4. MAPISAN 5. HAYUMA 6. Assisi Foundation 7. Philippine Greens 8. Dr Oscar Zamora, University of the Philippines Los Banos 9. Dr Romy Quijano, University of the Philippines College of Medicine 10. Sustainable Agriculture Center, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City 11. SIBAT (Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya) 12. Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) 13. GRAIN Los Ba=F1os THAILAND 1. TREE (Technology for Rural and Ecological Enrichment) 2. BIOTHAI (Thai Network on Biodiversity and Community Rights) INDONESIA 1. PAN (Pesticides Action Network) Indonesia 2. Anik Wusari, Resource Management and Development Consultant (REMDEC) 3. Omar Sari, Network and Computer Specialist, INFID CAMBODIA 1. Lot S. Miranda, HEKS Cambodia Programme Additional endorsements from JAPAN: 1)Hiroko Kubota. University of Kokugakuin,member of JOAA 2)JAPAN:Ichijima Organic Farming Association -Shinji Hashimoto From aditjond at psychology.newcastle.edu.au Sun May 10 10:15:48 1998 From: aditjond at psychology.newcastle.edu.au (George J. Aditjondro) Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 12:15:48 +1100 Subject: [asia-apec 428] Re: No patents on rice! No patents on life! Message-ID: Dear Obet; Pls add my name on, in the Indonesian or Australian section: Dr. George J. Aditjondro Former Vice President of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (WALHI) Indonesian academic dissident in self-imposed exile Lecturer in the Sociology of Non-Western Environmental Movements Department of Sociology and Anthropology University of Newcastle NSW 2308, Australia Besides, I had sent you an email message earlier, asking if you could send me hard copies of the Philippine Greens party documents to my office address, for my students in my Non-Western Env. Movt.s class. Is that still possible? Maraming salamat, po. George >We are collecting signatures for the statement below which will be >presented later by one of the signatories to a WTO meeting in Geneva. >Kindly inform us right away if you want your organization's name added >to this list. > >Obet Verzola >Philippine Greens > >---------- > >NO PATENTS ON RICE! NO PATENTS ON LIFE! > >Statement from Peoples' Movements & NGOs in Southeast Asia to the World >Trade Organization >May 1998 > >Rice is life in Southeast and other parts of Asia. It has been the >cornerstone of our food, our languages, our cultures - in short, our >life - for thousands of years. Over the centuries, farming communities >throughout the region have developed, nurtured and conserved over a >hundred thousand distinct varieties of rice to suit different tastes >and needs. > >The Green Revolution spearheaded by the International Rice Research >Institute (IRRI) in the 1960s resulted the loss of this diversity from >farmers' fields and the spread of wholly unsustainable farming systems >which require high energy inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, >so-called 'high-yielding' seeds, irrigation systems and supervised >credit schemes. In this process, farmers lost control of their own >seeds, their own knowledge and their own self-confidence. Today, >people are struggling throughout the region to rebuild more >sustainable agriculture systems hinged on farmers' control of genetic >resources and local knowledge. > > >In the past, the whole cycle of the rice economy was under the control >of farmers themselves, from production through distribution. Today, >global corporations are taking over the rice sector. With the >expansion of industrial farming, global corporations - and their local >subsidiaries=20 - established their predominance in the rice sector >through research programs, interference in policy-making, and their >exports of farm machinery, pesticides and fertilizers. Now, through >the use of genetic engineering, they are increasing their control over >our rice cultures. The kinds of rice that we are promised through this >technology threaten the environment and public health. For example, >herbicide tolerant rice will lead to increased pesticide use. Rice >incorporating Bacillus thuringiensis genes will disrupt ecological >balances. Both of these are unsafe for consumers and will lead to >allergic reactions, increased antibiotic resistance and other health >hazards. New hybrids - such as those based on the so-called >'Terminator Technology' - will force farmers to buy rice seed every >planting season from transnational corporations. > > >The extension of the patent system through the WTO Agreement on Trade >Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) gives global >corporations the 'right' to claim monopoly ownership over rice - and >life - itself. Companies in the industrialized world have already >started to claim intellectual property rights (IPR) on rice. A >derivative of IR-8,=20 IRRI's 'miracle rice', was monopolised through >IPR in the United States already in the 1980s. Recently, RiceTec, a >company in Texas, has taken out a patent on basmati rice. This is >biopiracy against India and Pakistan. The same company and many others >in the US are now marketing what they label as Jasmine rice. This is >not only intellectual and cultural theft, it also directly threatens >farm communities in Southeast Asia. Jasmine rice comes from Thailand, >where it is grown today by over five million resource-poor farmers who >are trying to develop ecological alternatives for Jasmine rice >production and marketing. > >We have to strengthen local groups to assert farmers' and community >rights to counter these trends in the region. For this reason, we make >the following demands: > >1. WTO memberstates must recognise that farmers' and community rights >have precedence over intellectual property rights and that IPRs >destroy biodiversity. Many initiatives to develop and implement >farmers' and community rights are underway in Southeast Asia, and must >be supported and strengthened. > >2. We encourage the memberstates of the Association of Southeast Asian >Nations (ASEAN) to support the initiatives of India and the >Organisation for African Unity to resist the extension of IPR systems >and to develop community rights at the local and national levels. > >3. Genetic engineering of rice and other foods should be prohibited. > >4. Agriculture and biodiversity must be taken out of the WTO regime, >especially the TRIPS Agreement. > >5. No patents on rice! No patents on life! > >PHILIPPINES > >1. MASIPAG (Farmer/Scientist Partnership for Development) >2. CEC (Center for Environmental Concerns) >3. PDG (Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Dev't Group) >4. MAPISAN >5. HAYUMA >6. Assisi Foundation >7. Philippine Greens >8. Dr Oscar Zamora, University of the Philippines Los Banos >9. Dr Romy Quijano, University of the Philippines College of Medicine >10. Sustainable Agriculture Center, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City >11. SIBAT (Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya) >12. Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) >13. GRAIN Los Ba=F1os > >THAILAND > >1. TREE (Technology for Rural and Ecological Enrichment) >2. BIOTHAI (Thai Network on Biodiversity and Community Rights) > >INDONESIA > >1. PAN (Pesticides Action Network) Indonesia >2. Anik Wusari, Resource Management and Development Consultant (REMDEC) >3. Omar Sari, Network and Computer Specialist, INFID > >CAMBODIA > >1. Lot S. Miranda, HEKS Cambodia Programme > >Additional endorsements from JAPAN: > >1)Hiroko Kubota. University of Kokugakuin,member of JOAA >2)JAPAN:Ichijima Organic Farming Association -Shinji Hashimoto From amc at HK.Super.NET Tue May 12 20:18:04 1998 From: amc at HK.Super.NET (AMC) Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:18:04 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 429] Re: No patents on rice! No patents on life! Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980512183027.00715fd4@is2.hk.super.net> 12 May 1998 Dear Obet, Thanks for sending us your statement. Please include AMC (Asian Migrant Centre, Hong Kong). Thanks! Rex Varona Executive Director At 07:37 PM 5/8/98, you wrote: >We are collecting signatures for the statement below which will be >presented later by one of the signatories to a WTO meeting in Geneva. >Kindly inform us right away if you want your organization's name added >to this list. > >Obet Verzola >Philippine Greens > >---------- > >NO PATENTS ON RICE! NO PATENTS ON LIFE! > >Statement from Peoples' Movements & NGOs in Southeast Asia to the World >Trade Organization >May 1998 > >Rice is life in Southeast and other parts of Asia. It has been the >cornerstone of our food, our languages, our cultures - in short, our >life - for thousands of years. Over the centuries, farming communities >throughout the region have developed, nurtured and conserved over a >hundred thousand distinct varieties of rice to suit different tastes >and needs. > >The Green Revolution spearheaded by the International Rice Research >Institute (IRRI) in the 1960s resulted the loss of this diversity from >farmers' fields and the spread of wholly unsustainable farming systems >which require high energy inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, >so-called 'high-yielding' seeds, irrigation systems and supervised >credit schemes. In this process, farmers lost control of their own >seeds, their own knowledge and their own self-confidence. Today, >people are struggling throughout the region to rebuild more >sustainable agriculture systems hinged on farmers' control of genetic >resources and local knowledge. > > >In the past, the whole cycle of the rice economy was under the control >of farmers themselves, from production through distribution. Today, >global corporations are taking over the rice sector. With the >expansion of industrial farming, global corporations - and their local >subsidiaries=20 - established their predominance in the rice sector >through research programs, interference in policy-making, and their >exports of farm machinery, pesticides and fertilizers. Now, through >the use of genetic engineering, they are increasing their control over >our rice cultures. The kinds of rice that we are promised through this >technology threaten the environment and public health. For example, >herbicide tolerant rice will lead to increased pesticide use. Rice >incorporating Bacillus thuringiensis genes will disrupt ecological >balances. Both of these are unsafe for consumers and will lead to >allergic reactions, increased antibiotic resistance and other health >hazards. New hybrids - such as those based on the so-called >'Terminator Technology' - will force farmers to buy rice seed every >planting season from transnational corporations. > > >The extension of the patent system through the WTO Agreement on Trade >Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) gives global >corporations the 'right' to claim monopoly ownership over rice - and >life - itself. Companies in the industrialized world have already >started to claim intellectual property rights (IPR) on rice. A >derivative of IR-8,=20 IRRI's 'miracle rice', was monopolised through >IPR in the United States already in the 1980s. Recently, RiceTec, a >company in Texas, has taken out a patent on basmati rice. This is >biopiracy against India and Pakistan. The same company and many others >in the US are now marketing what they label as Jasmine rice. This is >not only intellectual and cultural theft, it also directly threatens >farm communities in Southeast Asia. Jasmine rice comes from Thailand, >where it is grown today by over five million resource-poor farmers who >are trying to develop ecological alternatives for Jasmine rice >production and marketing. > >We have to strengthen local groups to assert farmers' and community >rights to counter these trends in the region. For this reason, we make >the following demands: > >1. WTO memberstates must recognise that farmers' and community rights >have precedence over intellectual property rights and that IPRs >destroy biodiversity. Many initiatives to develop and implement >farmers' and community rights are underway in Southeast Asia, and must >be supported and strengthened. > >2. We encourage the memberstates of the Association of Southeast Asian >Nations (ASEAN) to support the initiatives of India and the >Organisation for African Unity to resist the extension of IPR systems >and to develop community rights at the local and national levels. > >3. Genetic engineering of rice and other foods should be prohibited. > >4. Agriculture and biodiversity must be taken out of the WTO regime, >especially the TRIPS Agreement. > >5. No patents on rice! No patents on life! > >PHILIPPINES > >1. MASIPAG (Farmer/Scientist Partnership for Development) >2. CEC (Center for Environmental Concerns) >3. PDG (Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Dev't Group) >4. MAPISAN >5. HAYUMA >6. Assisi Foundation >7. Philippine Greens >8. Dr Oscar Zamora, University of the Philippines Los Banos >9. Dr Romy Quijano, University of the Philippines College of Medicine >10. Sustainable Agriculture Center, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City >11. SIBAT (Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya) >12. Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) >13. GRAIN Los Ba=F1os > >THAILAND > >1. TREE (Technology for Rural and Ecological Enrichment) >2. BIOTHAI (Thai Network on Biodiversity and Community Rights) > >INDONESIA > >1. PAN (Pesticides Action Network) Indonesia >2. Anik Wusari, Resource Management and Development Consultant (REMDEC) >3. Omar Sari, Network and Computer Specialist, INFID > >CAMBODIA > >1. Lot S. Miranda, HEKS Cambodia Programme > >Additional endorsements from JAPAN: > >1)Hiroko Kubota. University of Kokugakuin,member of JOAA >2)JAPAN:Ichijima Organic Farming Association -Shinji Hashimoto > > > > From HoC01 at newschool.edu Thu May 14 05:11:53 1998 From: HoC01 at newschool.edu (Christina Ho) Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 16:11:53 -0400 Subject: [asia-apec 430] STOP 100 Years of Servitude Conference Message-ID: An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: not available Url: http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/private/asia-apec/attachments/19980513/cea9799b/attachment.txt From rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org Fri May 15 00:27:46 1998 From: rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org (Roberto Verzola) Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 00:27:46 Subject: [asia-apec 431] parallel apec meeting in Malaysia Message-ID: <199805141558.XAA00783@phil.gn.apc.org> To the asia-apec list: (asia-apec@jca.ax.apc.org) Before the APEC parallel meetings of NGOs in 1996 in Manila, we tried to convince the organizers to include a track on information/communications technology, to no avail. Interdoc held its own conference on the same venue as one of the tracks in the hope of sensitizing the NGO participants on the importance of the emerging global information economy, but to little avail. Before the parallel meeting in Canada, I again wrote to the organizers to include the global information economy as a track in the discussions. Friends to went to Canada to attend say the topic was not discussed much. For the parallel meetings in Malaysia, I will again propose that the emerging GIE be discussed as a track, for the following reason: North America and Europe are emerging information economies. Such economies have different needs from predominantly industrial economies. These needs are driving the APEC negotiations, which is why the agreements that the US pushed hard to conclude are the Info Tech Agreement and the Telecomms Agreement. We must understand the nature and needs of an information economy, if we want fresh insights into the negotiating positions of an information economy like the US. The spread of Info/Comms Technology represents an impending massive substitution of labor by capital. This is a direct threat to labor and labor movements. As ICT reduces the demand for labor, the negotiating position of labor is greatly weakened. As the demand for capital (infrastructure, technology) increases, huge new markets are created for information economies, allowing them to consolidate their early lead in this area. The most strident demand nowadays of information economies is IPR protection. This means they want protectionism, if it concerns their products, but not if it refers to products of developing countries. IPR is control of information, and thus is directly related to the emergence of the global information economy. I hope the parallel meeting organizers will this time recognize that a parallel meeting will miss a major aspect of APEC if it continues to gloss over the emergence of the global information economy, and include this issue as a track. Regards to all, Roberto Verzola Interdoc Asia-Pacific / Philippine Greens From panap at panap.po.my Fri May 15 15:14:14 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 15:14:14 Subject: [asia-apec 432] Issue/Sector Forums at the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly Message-ID: <1383@panap.po.my> Dear Roberto Verzola (and the entire list), This is in response to Roberto's request that a forum on information/communication technology take place at the Peoples' Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. I will bring your request up at the next working committee meeting of the Peoples' Assembly on May 29th. Can I assume that you are willing to host this forum? Are there other interested organizations? I will see if any Malaysian groups are interested in co-hosting the forum. Any organizations or individuals interested in organizing issue or sector forums for this year's People's Assembly can either send emails to me (you may just want to post them to the list so that other interested groups can know what's going on) or communicate directly with the offices of the secretariat. My email address is the temporary secretariat address and I'll post the new phone and fax numbers hopefully by next week if they are available. The secreatriat will assist issue and sector forums with registration and logistics and may be able to provide some funding. We will supply the venue if the organizers choose to hold the forum in Kuala Lumpur. Criteria for the forums has not yet been established, but all forums will be expected to be a part of the assembly process (i.e. they must feed into the plenary sessions between November 13-15 in Kuala Lumpur). It is up to the organizers to establish the programme for the forum, seek funding, and send out invitations. I will have more details after the next working committee meeting. Sincerely, Devlin Kuyek Pesticide Action Network- Asia and the Pacific and Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly Secretariat From panap at panap.po.my Fri May 15 16:35:39 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 16:35:39 Subject: [asia-apec 433] APEC's study on the impact of liberalization Message-ID: <1388@panap.po.my> At last year's APEC ministerial in Vancouver, APEC Ministers stated: "Ministers acknowledge the need to expand the assessment of the impact of trade liberalization and facilitation, in order to promote a broad-based and balanced understanding of this issue within domestic communities." It appears that Australia is taking the lead on this study. Instead of being a legitimate look into the effects of liberalization, APEC is turning the study into a PR job. The following is a request for proposals from consultants interested in doing the study. (You can get this off the APEC secretariat site at: http://apecsec.org.sg) Please read, Devlin Kuyek Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COMMUNICATING WITH APEC COMMUNITIES ON THE IMPACT OF LIBERALISATION Objective At a time of rising uncertainty in most economies about the impact o f trade and investment liberalisation, community support for continued li beralisation is increasingly important. Surveys confirm that an ambivale nce exists within many APEC economies about the impact of trade liberalis ation. This ambivalence may be growing in some of the economies of the region, due to the uncertainty associated with recent financial instability. This project will contribute to advancing community understanding of the benefits of trade and investment liberalisation, while acknowledging the associated adjustment costs. By raising community understanding of and support for liberalisation, this project directly contributes to APEC 's core trade and investment liberalisation objectives. Background Community support for trade and investment liberalisation is importa nt to APEC's continued momentum. This work program contributes directly to the objective of obtaining community support for APEC's trade and inve stment liberalisation and facilitation agenda, by raising community under standing of the impact of liberalisation. Leaders at Vancouver acknowledged the important link between community support and continued strong trade and investment liberalisation, stating that: "Connecting with our constituents: We stress our common belief that ongoing and ambitious trade and investment liberalization remains indispensable to the health of our economies. To underpin our efforts, support among the people of the region for continuing trade and investment liberalization is essential. We welcome the decision by Minister s to develop an APEC-wide work program to assess the full impacts of trade liberalization, including its positive effects on growth and employment , and to assist members in managing associated adjustments." The APEC Committee on Trade and Investment has established a steering group to manage this project. The Project's Scope of Work The successful consultant(s) would be required to undertake a work p rogram to assist member economies to communicate with APEC communities on the impact of liberalisation. To meet the aim of improving understanding on the part of APEC communities about the impact of liberalisation, the project is comprised of two components (Phase 1 and Phase 2) and an evaluation phase, relying on input from the consultant involved in Phase 2 of the project. Analysis The aim of the analytical component of the project is to provide tan gible and easily-understood examples of the benefits of liberalisation. These will be developed into key themes or messages that can be used in the communications component of the project. The analytical phase is to be comprised of five case study modules and a review module aimed at communicating to a lay audience the major findings of economic research on the impact of liberalisation. The Steering Group has invited the APEC Economic Committee to undertake the review. While discussions are stil l underway with the Economic Committee as to whether it will be in a posi tion to undertake this module, consultants are asked to include this modu le within their budgets. Should the Economic Committee be ready to under take the work, consultants will be advised of this and will be permitted to reallocate funding from that module to increase their budget for the five case study modules. Communications activities Phase 2 of the project will involve the development of communication s strategies to assist economies to promote understanding of impact of li beralisation for domestic communities. The objective of the communicatio ns strategies would be to produce models of various communications media, which might be adapted by various member economies for use in their dome stic jurisdictions. Evaluating the Program At the end of the project, a consultant involved in phase 2 of th e project would be required to assist the Steering Group in its evaluatio n of the work program. Duties of Consultants The consultant(s) will undertake five c ase studies to analyse the impact of liberalisation on businesses and con sumers. In carrying out the case studies, consultant(s) will travel with in/to the selected economies to investigate through first-hand interviews and analysis the impact of liberalisation on consumers and businesses. Case studies should focus on sectors and time periods where there has bee n a distinct period of trade and investment liberalisation, and where lib eralisation is the dominant changing factor in the environment facing con sumers and businesses. The consultant(s) will include in these case studies e xamples of how businesses and consumers have responded successfully to li beralisation. The studies will also examine the adjustment costs associated with liberalisation, including how businesses have responded t o increased competition arising from liberalisation. The case studies will include a representative selection of economies and sectors, and will examine the experience of small and medium sized enterprises. The consultant will prepare a report summarising the key theme s of economic research on the impact of trade and investment liberalisati on The report will survey major research on the impact of trade and investment liberalisation on key economic indicators, includin g income, employment and economic welfare. The survey will cover researc h produced on this subject within the past decade. The main purpose of the report will be to highlight for a lay audience the key themes arising from this research. One such theme, for instance, is that the majority of the gains of liberalisa tion accrue to the liberalising economy. The report will be written and presented in a style suitable for the non-technical reader. It will be between 30 pages and 50 pages in length, including boxes and charts. The consultant(s) will publish and print the results of these case studies into high quality booklets of approximately 20 pages in leng th. The consultant will print 1,000 copies of each case study report and the review module. The consultant will also publish the results of the six modules on the internet, in consultation with the APEC Secretariat, possibly on the APEC Secretariat home page. All of the reports will develop and highlight ``key th emes'' or short messages about the impact of liberalisation on consumers and businesses. The selection of economies and sectors for the case studies wi ll be a matter for consideration by the Steering Group, based on the prop osals submitted in the competitive tendering process. The consultant(s) will undertake to produce w ritten communications strategies detailing options for targeting the key messages to each of the target audiences. The initial focus audiences will include (i) the media, (ii ) business groups, (iii) policy makers, opinion leaders, and legislators, and (iv) the general public, including community groups. (Other audienc es that could be considered later include (v) academics and (vi) students at secondary and tertiary level. The consultant(s) will develop and dist ribute a range of media as nominated by the Steering Group, for use in th e target audiences in each APEC economy. While the selection of the media is to be decided by the Steering Group based on the bids provided for phase 2 of the project, these could, for example, include a media reference ki t, short information pamphlets about the impact of liberalisation for bro ad distribution in the community, and an internet site to distribute the case studies and key themes about the impact of liberalisation. A consultant will be required to organi se and manage an APEC Seminar on ``Communicating the Impact of Liberalisa tion''. The seminar will disseminate the results of the analy tical phase of the research program and discuss different members' approa ches to communicating about trade and investment liberalisation to domest ic communities. High-profile academics, senior business representat ives and trade and investment policy makers from APEC economies will be i nvited. This seminar will be based around the theme "Communicating with APEC Communities" and will allow academic, business and poli cy-making communities from the region to examine experiences in communica ting with APEC communities. The consultant will be required to produce for the Steering G roup a short written assessment of the extent to which the various media that are developed and trialled in phase 2 of the project have raised com munity awareness of the impact of liberalisation. This evaluation should provide a quantitative assessm ent of the extent to which each of the communications strategies have rai sed understanding in the nominated target audiences. This evaluation sho uld incorporate survey research on attitudinal change in those target aud iences. The report should also incorporate lessons identifi ed in the APEC seminar on best-practice strategies in communicating with different audiences to raise understanding of the impact of liberalisatio n. This report is to be published in a high quality fo rmat in a booklet of approximately 50 pages in length. 4000 copies will be printed for distribution by members of the Steering Group to trade and investment policy makers in APEC economies. This will also be made avai lable on the internet. Qualification of Consultants Consultants must be APEC-wide research networks with the characteris tics specified (at i. to vi.). Those consultants wishing to tender for t his project should present a proposal to the APEC Secretariat by the clos e of business of 8 May 1998, addressing the following criteria: a strong record of technical expertise in the analysis of the impact of trade and investment liberalisation, particularly throu gh the use of case studies; an existing institutional presence in most APEC economies an d evidence of successful collaboration in undertaking research in conjunc tion with a number of APEC economies. This will allow the successful res earch networks to undertake both the research and the communications phas es of the project with all APEC economies. a capacity to deliver the communications phase of the program across all APEC economies; an outline of the approach to the task envisaged by the cons ultant, and the methodologies to be applied, including outlining possible case studies that could be undertaken; demonstrated capacity to organise an international seminar in volving high-profile academics, business representatives and policy maker s; and evidence of capacity to deliver high quality outputs on time and on budget. It is possible for consultants to bid for a selection of the five ca se studies in Phase 1, or alternatively, to bid with another institution in a consortium for the five case studies. Inquiries on this request for proposal should be addressed to: Mr Tsunehiro Ogawa Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat 438 Alexandria Road #14--01/04 Alexandria Point Singapore 119958 Tel No. (65) 2761880 Fax No. (65) 2761775 Email: to@ mail.apecsec.org.sg From lbyster at igc.apc.org Sat May 16 01:38:45 1998 From: lbyster at igc.apc.org (Leslie B) Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 09:38:45 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [asia-apec 434] Re: Issue/Sector Forums at the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980515083430.210793ca@pop.igc.org> In addition to information/communication technology, it would be good to look at the entire electronics (chip making industry). The semiconductor manufactturing industry is the largest and fastest growing manufacturing sector in the world. Over 127 plants each costing over $1billion (US) are planned for the next three years. In addition are the various supporting industries (Chemical manufacturing and waste disposal). Much more information on this is available if people want. Of course the industry iis greatly involved in trade negotiations and removing barriers to trade. The environmental, occupational health impacts and community impacts of this industry are enormous as well. Leslie Byster At 03:14 PM 5/15/98, PAN Asia Pacific wrote: > >Dear Roberto Verzola (and the entire list), > >This is in response to Roberto's request that a forum on >information/communication technology take place at the Peoples' >Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. > >I will bring your request up at the next working committee meeting >of the Peoples' Assembly on May 29th. Can I assume that you are >willing to host this forum? Are there other interested >organizations? I will see if any Malaysian groups are interested in >co-hosting the forum. > >Any organizations or individuals interested in organizing issue or >sector forums for this year's People's Assembly can either send >emails to me (you may just want to post them to the list so that >other interested groups can know what's going on) or communicate >directly with the offices of the secretariat. My email address is >the temporary secretariat address and I'll post the new phone and >fax numbers hopefully by next week if they are available. > >The secreatriat will assist issue and sector forums with >registration and logistics and may be able to provide some funding. > We will supply the venue if the organizers choose to hold the >forum in Kuala Lumpur. Criteria for the forums has not yet been >established, but all forums will be expected to be a part of the >assembly process (i.e. they must feed into the plenary sessions >between November 13-15 in Kuala Lumpur). It is up to the >organizers to establish the programme for the forum, seek funding, >and send out invitations. I will have more details after the next >working committee meeting. > > > Sincerely, > > Devlin Kuyek > Pesticide Action Network- Asia and the Pacific > and Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly Secretariat > > > Leslie Byster From apfischer at igc.apc.org Wed May 20 04:03:06 1998 From: apfischer at igc.apc.org (a. paige fischer) Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 12:03:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [asia-apec 435] (no title) Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980519122548.0a1f1eb4@pop.igc.org> Is there any way we can find out who is on this list? Has a directory been circulated? Is this list closed and moderated? That is, do we know for sure who is on it and are government people able to subscribe? I am particularly interested in knowing how many Asian citizens I reach when I post to asia-apec? Thanks, Paige From aiwa at igc.apc.org Thu May 21 03:42:22 1998 From: aiwa at igc.apc.org (Asian Immigrant Women Advocates) Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 10:42:22 -0800 Subject: [asia-apec 436] Re: (no title) Message-ID: Please remove us from your mailing list. Our e mail is aiwa@igc.apc.org Asian Immigrant Women Advocates 310 8th Street #301 1461 Kerley Drive #18 Oakland, CA 94607 San Jose, CA 95112 (510) 268-0192 ph (408)452-1604 ph/fax (510) 268-0194 fax aiwa@igc.apc.org From panap at panap.po.my Thu May 21 13:01:31 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 13:01:31 Subject: [asia-apec 437] new email adress of the secretariat Message-ID: <1440@panap.po.my> This is the new email address for the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly secretariat: appasec@tm.net.my From panap at panap.po.my Thu May 21 13:06:52 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 13:06:52 Subject: [asia-apec 438] A Prayer to the Global Corporate Gods Message-ID: <1441@panap.po.my> A Prayer to the Global Corporate Gods: O mighty global corporations, we are helpless without you. Please bring your menial jobs here to our nation and town. Though we have little control over these arbitrary and tedious jobs that create wealth for stockholders rather than us, they are all that we lowly workers deserve. Grant us your x dollars per hour so that we might have hope of purchasing your fine plastic products that bestow lasting contentment. Forgive us when we question your authority or do not work fast enough, for we are but wretched servants, and please oh pretty please do not cast us onto the street where there is much weeping and knashing of teeth. Drive us to serve you ever more diligently until our decrepit bodies and minds break down, then patch us up in your hospitals and with your anti-depressants as much as necessary to return to your service. And when you have used us up completely, secure us in your nursing homes so that we do not annoy you or your still-faithful devotees further. O corporate one big happy family Fathers, some of us are so worthless that our skills do not match your product plans, and our resultant poverty has led us astray to where we have broken the righteous commandments that protect your bountiful property from us. Other backsliders have foolishly attempted to escape the indoctrination of your dollars through the use of mind altering substances. We accept that the only rightful place for these shameful sinners among us is in a cold cell of thick concrete deep within your prisons, where you will still mercifully grace these human by-products with a few quarters per hour to manufacture your office furniture. For those few hours when we are not in your service, thank you for blessing us all with the security of predictable name brand products, and for their copious packaging that assures that no heathens have laid their unclean hands on the wondrous gifts within. Continue to spew your intelligent poisons into our farmland and food to protect us from the sinister insects and microorganisms. Prepare our food and even serve it to us, that we may have more time to serve you. We will gladly consume whatever you hand down to us, for you are all-knowing. Please pacify us with a plethora of prefabricated entertainment, as we have forgotten how to entertain each other. Reveal to us through your inspired media what we are to believe, for surely we cannot trust our own feeble judgement. Similarly commodify any remaining life activities, so that our angst-ridden existence is no more challenging than a series of multiple-choice questions. Most important, guide your wise politicians financially as they strive to make this region of the planet more cost-effective for you by abolishing the evil worker rights laws, corporate taxation, and environmental protections that offend you deeply and drive you away from us. Help them enlighten the more backward cultures by dropping your holy bombs on the people of those demonic nation-states that still refuse to bow down before you. And thank you for undercutting the pitifully small local businesses that would dare defy your divine dominance and threaten the sacred homogenous culture in which you have safely wrapped us. Truly all resources belong to you, and we are but humble stewards of them. Continue to devour the land and excrete into the rivers --- the Earth is your banquet and your toilet. For thine is the empire, the power, and the planet, until you destroy it. Amen. Copyright 1996 BiggerTheyCome (TM) Enterprises, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GlobalGobble Corporation. Just try and steal this intellectual property, you peasant, and see what happens! From panap at panap.po.my Thu May 21 12:59:20 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 12:59:20 Subject: [asia-apec 439] The Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly Message-ID: <1439@panap.po.my> THE ASIA-PACIFIC PEOPLES' ASSEMBLY November 10-15, 1998 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia CONFRONTING GLOBALIZATION: REASSERTING PEOPLES' RIGHTS This year's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting will be held in November in Malaysia. Since the first Leaders' Meeting in 1993, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), people's organisations, and social movements have met in parallel gatherings to highlight concerns about the "free trade, free market" model of trade and investment liberalisation that APEC promotes. Today, a strong global movement continuously monitors, educates and mobilises people to fight the neo liberal economic programmes causing untold hardship to workers, women and peoples the world over. More than 300 participants from the Asia-Pacific region are expected to attend the Peoples' Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. This year's assembly is of utmost importance given the current financial crisis in Asia, the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the upcoming negotiations at the WTO. Issues and sector forums, some of which may take place outside of Malaysi a prior to the Peoples' Assembly, will feed into a two-day plenary session on November 13-14 in Kuala Lumpur. Each Forum will be required to commit to at least two specific actions that it can present at the plenary session. The plenary will build a common analysis and a plan of action with the overall objective to strengthen the peoples' movement against globalisation. In Malaysia, preparations for the summit have begun. In February, over 20 organisations attended a workshop on APEC in Kuala Lumpur. A Secretariat and a Working Committee have been formed and local organisations have committed to hosting various issue and sector forums. A national process of events, seminars, and workshops prior to the summit will raise awareness about APEC and globalisation and increase local participation in the summit activities. WHAT IS APEC? APEC is a regional consultative forum that includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States, with Peru, Russia, and Vietnam as new members this year. APEC aims for regional free trade by the year 2010 for developed countries and 2020 for developing countries. "Through APEC, we aim to get governments out of the way, opening the way for business to do business."- US Assistant Secretary of State for Econom ic Affairs Joan Spero APEC is a non-accountable body in which heads-of-state meet behind closed doors as "Economic Leaders": representatives of economies not countries. Participation is limited to government, business, and academia, and, as a result, APEC fails to address the impact of globalisation on workers, the environment, human rights, women, indigenous peoples, farmers, and the poor. The Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly refuses to let APEC ignore these issues. WHY A PEOPLES' ASSEMBLY? There is a rush to globalise. All over the world, governments are racing to negotiating tables, eager to sign their sovereignty away for pieces of the economic miracle that globalisation promises. The supposed miracle is tempting: rapid economic growth, rapid development-a gateway to the good life. It is also threatening: those who do not join will surely perish in poverty, isolation, and backwardness. But the simplicity of its message masks the enormity of its effect: globalisation may be the most fundamental redesign of the world's economic, political, and cultural systems ever to take place. Globalisation, through modern communications and through free trade blocks, multilateral agreements such as the WTO, and global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, has produced an unprecedented integration of the world economy. Money, as those in Mexico and Southeast Asia certainly understand, can now travel the world in seconds. Proponents of globalisation argue that this integration strengthens competition and ensures the optimum distribution of resources. They claim it will bring rapid economic growth and prosperity for all. But, behind the promises of prosperity there exists a grim reality: the disintegration of the social order, increasing inequality and squalor, displacement and landlessness, violence and homelessness, alienation and growing fear of the future. Globalisation has also brought massive damage to the natural world as evidenced by global climate change, ozone depletion, widespread species loss, water crises, and numerous forms of pollution. Globalisation has not even managed to create the so-called level-playing field that it promises; multilateral agreements continue to reflect power imbalances between the north and the south. Few southern countries possess the technological know-how and capital to compete within the global economy, and multilateral agreements on investments and intellectual property only exacerbate the inequalities between nations. Consequently, competition to attract capital invariably depends on the "environment" for investment; in other words, the cost of labour, the degree of environmental and safety regulations, and the level of taxation. This is not development but a race to the bottom. The proponents of globalisation look beyond the current reality; they speak about how all boats will eventually rise with the tide of economic growth. In the meantime, they acknowledge that some people will have to suffer and shoulder the risks. These people are clearly not from transnational corporations, which now control more than 60% of all global trade. And, they are certainly not the wealthy, who can afford the imported food and the newly privatised services such as health care. They are farmers forced off their lands to make way for large-scale monoculture crops for export. They are workers who have lost jobs to machines and corporate flight. They are women forced to sell their bodies in the tourism industry . They are indigenous peoples forced off their lands for short-term mining profits. And, as they wait for globalisation's unseen rewards, these people are rapidly losing any democratic space that they may have had to voice their opposition to these policies and to seek their rightful dues. Globalisation has to be scrutinised and exposed. It is a process that concentrates capital and political control in the hands of the few, while offering nothing to those most in need. We must develop a vision of a radically reshaped international economic and financial order where economic power, wealth and income are more equitably distributed and the environment is respected. This is our challenge when we meet during the Peoples' Assembly. CONFRONTING GLOBALIZATION: REASSERTING PEOPLES' RIGHTS 1998 marks the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet, as we celebrate the recognition of our universal rights, violations of these rights have increased dramatically this year. The current regional crisis has upset economies, communities, and environments, and has undermined the economic, social, and cultural rights that we have struggled hard for. As past People's Summits have warned, the crisis is the logical outcome of a model of development that clearly fails to grasp what "human rights" mean. LABOUR Globalisation was supposed to bring more jobs, at least that was what was promised. Instead, workers everywhere are losing work and settling for less as employers, armed with labour saving technologies and open markets, surf the world picking the best bid from countries desperate for investment. In the name of profit maximisation and efficiency, workers are told to compete globally, creating a vicious downward spiral as wages and benefits fall to the lowest common denominator. Any opposition to these deteriorating conditions is met by smug reminders that jobs can always go elsewhere. And indeed they do. While resistance to free trade is met with stiff punishments, the demand for common labour standards is given nothing but lip service. Workers are constantly denied the right of association and the right to bargain collectively. Workers taking industrial action are met with state repression as governments bend to the will of investors. Globalisation binds the hands of labour as it frees the hands of capital. WOMEN Women suffer most from globalisation. In Asia, where the economic crisis has brought massive unemployment, 60% of those retrenched have been women. Increasing poverty and a growing lack of resources have forced women to migrate across borders only to work in harsh and exploitative conditions without rights to organise. The New World Order has escalated the trade of women for sex and bonded or forced labour. And the privatisation of basic services, especially health care, is a further threat to women's health and reproductive rights. FOOD SECURITY What do the promoters of globalisation envision for agriculture? They see a world where nations produce what they can produce most efficiently and trade those products for the goods that they need from other nations. In this scenario, some nations may not even need any agriculture, because they can trade industrial goods for food. Small farmers may be forced off their lands, but this is part of industrialisation. And if transnational corporations can bring food to the table more cheaply, then so be it. But what happens when your currency crashes and you are unable to pay for the food or agricultural inputs that you have to import? What happens to the millions whose only access to food comes from their access to land? What happens when most of the world's food system is controlled by a handful of transnational corporations? What guarantees would there be that the food we eat and produce is safe and sustainable? And, what kind of free market is there anyway when the average annual subsidy to an American farmer is nearly 8 times the annual income of the average Malaysian farmer? Indeed, what happens to food security in the global economy? PROPOSED PROGRAMME OF THE PEOPLES' ASSEMBLY November 10: Opening Ceremonies Discussion: "Trade and Investment Liberalisation" November 11-12: Issue and Sector Forums Human Rights and Democracy Food Security and Agriculture The Environment and Sustainability Privatisation and Financial Deregulation The Arms Trade and Militarization The Rural and Urban Poor The Media Indigenous Peoples US-Japan Security Migrant Labour Women Youth and Students November 13-14: Peoples' Assembly (Plenary) November 15: Final Assembly Closing Activity Interested organisations and individuals from within and outside of Malay sia are encouraged to join in hosting the Peoples' Assembly. If you or your organisation are interested in hosting or assisting with a Peoples' Assembly event, an issue or sector forum, or a cultural activity, please contact the Secretariat for more information. The intention is to create a genuine space to contest crucial ideas and issues in an open and participatory way. THE SECRETARIAT 57 Lorong Kurau 59100 Bansar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: 603-283-6245 Email: appasec@tm.net.my Website: www.vcn.bc.ca/summit From alarm at HK.Super.NET Thu May 21 21:00:17 1998 From: alarm at HK.Super.NET (APEC Labour Rights Monitor) Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 20:00:17 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 440] Re: new email adress of the secretariat Message-ID: <199805211200.UAA03843@kwaifong.hk.super.net> Dear friends, Could you please include ALARM in this mailing list. Our address is - alarm@hk.super.net Thanks, Bong ---------- > From: PAN Asia Pacific > To: asia-apec@jca.ax.apc.org > Subject: [asia-apec 437] new email adress of the secretariat > Date: 21 May 1998 21:01 > > This is the new email address for the Asia-Pacific Peoples' > Assembly secretariat: > > appasec@tm.net.my > From rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org Tue May 26 15:47:30 1998 From: rverzola at phil.gn.apc.org (Roberto Verzola) Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 15:47:30 Subject: [asia-apec 441] tax-free Internet Message-ID: <199805260719.PAA01564@phil.gn.apc.org> The US has managed to push for a "non-binding" agreement for tax-free Internet commerce. Though non-binding, it sets the tone for future negotiations (obviously to turn it into a binding agreement). This is again a reflection of the interests of the US and Europe as emerging information economies. The developing countries were caught unawares by this US move (submitted at the last moment of the WTO negotiations, according to Martin Khor of TWN -- story attached below), because they do not appreciate enough the fundamental changes brought by ICT. I hope the people's forum vs APEC in KL doesn't make the same mistake. Obet Verzola -------- SUNS #4218 Tuesday 26 May 1998 ============== Trade: South needs more influence in WTO's corridors Geneva, May 21 (IPS/Lewis Machipisa) - Developing countries avoided losing ground at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)'s Second Ministerial Meeting here, but achieved little else -- highlighting the need for them to be better prepared for future trade negotiations. The outcome of the May 18-20 meeting could have been worse. Some industrialised nations want talks to be launched within the WTO on additional subjects such as investments and competition policy, whereas most developing nations oppose this. In the end, no new issues were adopted save a non-binding declaration on duty-free treatment for goods and services traded electronically, which was proposed by the United States. The General Council of the WTO shall establish a comprehensive work programme to examine all global electronic trade issues, the ministers said in a final declaration on global electronic commerce. "The meeting really didn't cause a disaster for us but it created a role in which the rich countries can now put in their agenda and we need to be able to strengthen ourselves," said Martin Khor of the non-governmental Third World Network. It is now critical that developing nations beef up their presence in Geneva so that "we can gear up for negotiations. It's better to do it now otherwise it would be more expensive later if we don't fight for our rights." African diplomats said one of the disadvantages they faced in engaging western negotiators was their limited numbers. This, they explained, eroded their negotiating capacity in Geneva, especially since, on any given day, there are three to four meetings going on at the WTO building here. "By and large, this meeting opens the way in the next 18 months for the possibility that these rich countries are going to push for more for themselves and we need to strengthen ourselves to be able to defend against that," Khor told IPS. Despite the fact that very few countries -- about 10 out of the WTO's 132 members -- had been involved in discussions on electronic commerce, more time was devoted to this subject than any other. "When African ministers came to the second World Trade Ministerial Meeting, they had a message with a very strong concern for greater commitment to the issue of implementation," said Yao Graham of the Africa Trade network, a grouping of NGOs, research institutions, and media organisations. But from the final declaration at the end of the WTO meeting, it is very clear that there is only a cursory acknowledgement of that issue." The fact that the next ministerial meeting, in 1999, will be held in the United States, makes it even more likely that the issue will be pushed aside as the US and Europe try to bring new issues to be agreed for negotiations, Graham feels. "That the US managed to get its proposal on Electronic Commerce to be considered by the meeting at the last minute, is a graphic example of the power of the US in the organisation," he argued. Most African delegations and NGOs only got to know about the US deal at the start of the ministerial conference. But by Wednesday, just about everyone had been supporting it. "This sadly illustrates the problems within the ranks of the developing countries," said Graham. Khor commented that rather than rush and dwell on an issue that they did not know about and did not need, the ministers should have focused on all the changes that are going to take place in the next few years. "At the end of the day the real focus of the meeting became the new agenda of opening up even more," Khor told IPS. "So it's quite clear that U.S. and Europe wants to add in more issues and that may even cause more instability to the developing world, for example issues of investment, government procurement, competition policy, trade and environment." Non-governmental organisations (NGO) deplored the way the U.S. managed to force its declaration on Electronic Commerce on WTO members. In a joint statement, 18 NGOs from around the world lambasted the process saying it was "most untransparent, undemocratic and non-participatory". "Electronic commerce is a complex issue," they added. "Asking for tax-free status for things transmitted through electronic means has many implications. The benefits will almost exclusively accrue to corporations of developed countries whose aim is increased market access through the move." According to the NGOs, the US proposal was "something that fell from the sky." Most NGOs from both the North and South only found out about it on Monday, hours before it was put before the ministers. This, commented the NGOs, makes a mockery of statements to the WTO ministerial by US President Bill Clinton and WTO Director-General Renato Ruggiero on increased transparency and participation in the WTO. "Statements have been made here about greater transparency and opening up to civil society, but from the declaration, you get the impression of a one-way perception, of public relations rather than an interactive process," said Graham. He also lamented the fact that few African journalists covered the meeting. "To me this is a statement of just how this important business of the WTO is still bypassing Africa," he argued. "There were fewer than five African journalists out of about 200." From panap at panap.po.my Tue May 26 18:27:32 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 18:27:32 Subject: [asia-apec 442] Statement from APEC Finance Ministers Meeting (Part2 of 3) Message-ID: <1489@panap.po.my> (Cont'd) Developing and Strengthening Financial Markets 25. The recent financial instability in Asia underscores the importance o f developing strong, resilient and well-regulated domestic financial mark ets in the framework of a stable international financial system. In this regard, we welcome and endorse the Basle Core Principles on Effective Ban king Supervision and urge the International Conference of Banking Supervi sors to endorse them at their meeting in October. We endorse the working party report on Financial Stability in Emerging Market Economies prepared by the G-10 in collaboration with a number of emerging market economies. We also noted the efforts of the Asian Development Bank in evolving "Sou nd Practices to Facilitate Development of the Financial Sectors in the AP EC Region" that reflect the lessons of the financial instability in Asia. In the same vein, we also look forward to the results of IOSCO's current efforts to develop an appropriate set of principles for supervision of s ecurities markets. 26. We strongly endorse the idea of enhancing surveillance of financial s ector supervisory regimes. We look forward to the international financial institutions and the international regulatory community working together to study ways in which this can be accomplished including options for be tter co-ordination or enhanced forms of collaboration, such as a peer rev iew process. Any reform should strengthen or complement rather than dupli cate existing global or regional arrangements. 27. We welcome the successful completion of the World Trade Organization' s Financial Services Negotiations. This agreement will achieve improved m arket access and lower barriers among financial markets. Greater competit ion in the provision of financial services can, if the prudential regulat ory framework is in place, contribute to capital market development. We u rged participating economies to ratify their commitments so that the agre ement can enter into force as scheduled on March 1, 1999. Work in the APEC Finance Ministers' Process on Developing and Strengtheni ng Financial Markets 28. Promoting the development of strong, resilient financial sectors in o ur region has been a central goal of the APEC Finance Ministers' process since its inception. Our work over the past year has continued to focus o n this objective, which has assumed even greater importance in light of t he financial crisis in Asia. At our meeting last year in Cebu, we launche d six collaborative initiatives to promote capital market development and facilitate private investment in infrastructure projects as a response t o our Economic Leaders' call for a concrete and practical work program. We also agreed that our Deputies would prepare a voluntary action plan to support the freer and stable flow of capital in our region. 29. This year in Kananaskis, we discussed and welcomed the progress achie ved so far under the initiatives launched in Cebu. We plan to continue ou r efforts over the next year in three priority areas: capital market deve lopment; capital account liberalization; and strengthening international financial systems. Capital Market Development 30. Over the past year, we examined ways to further capital market develo pment under a number of collaborative initiatives. We examined ways to st rengthen clearing and settlement infrastructure within our economies. On this initiative a final report has been issued to us. 31. We conducted a regional forum on pension fund reform, which produced a very useful technical report on the issue including the role pension fu nds can play in mobilizing private savings and broadening the demand base for long-term debt instruments. In the next year, Chile will host a seco nd forum, to be co-ordinated by Chile and Mexico, which will focus on pol icy issues in this area. 32. Under our initiative on securitization, participating economies draft ed recommendations on supporting the development of asset-backed securiti zation, including a voluntary action plan which interested individual eco nomies can implement to support the development of securitization in thei r markets. We endorse these recommendations. 33. We recalled that the impetus for much of our work on developing and s trengthening capital markets was to facilitate private financing of infra structure. Over the past year, we have continued our work on this subject through our initiative to support co-operation among export-financing in stitutions. In particular, we welcome the protocol agreement signed by fi fteen Export Financing Institutions and Export Credit Agencies from acros s the region which will provide a framework for co-operation among them w hen market demand for infrastructure recovers. 34. We recognized, however, that the recent period of financial instabili ty has significantly changed the circumstances for financing infrastructu re projects. There is a need to analyze the impact of this on infrastruct ure development in the region and to explore strategies to promote privat e financing for infrastructure over the medium term. We call upon the Asi an Development Bank to work in this area and to report back to us at our next meeting. 35. We received a progress report on the collaborative initiative to supp ort the development of credit rating agencies and strengthening of inform ation disclosure standards, and look forward to further results next year . 36. We agreed to begin work on a new collaborative initiative on the deve lopment of domestic bond markets in the region, which will be co-ordinate d by Hong Kong, China. This should be able to build on the contributions on this subject from the APEC Financiers Group. Capital Account Liberalization 37. We agree to continue to implement policies to enable economies to ben efit from and minimize the risks of capital account liberalization. We re affirm our commitment to continue working on designing a Voluntary Action Plan For Supporting the Freer and Stable Flow of Capital. 38. We recognize that economies should pursue capital account liberalizat ion in an orderly manner. Prerequisites include sound macroeconomic polic ies, effective prudential regulation and supervision, and an active effor t to promote capital market development. Some of our economies have also found the use of market-based prudential safeguards to be a useful comple ment but not a substitute for these preconditions. We asked our Deputies to work with the IMF and the World Bank to compare the experiences of eco nomies in managing the capital market liberalization process, including t he results from the use of macro-prudential measures, in order to study h ow to promote freer flows of capital while maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability. We asked for a report at our next meeting. 39. We asked our Deputies to work with the IMF to examine how to monitor effectively capital flows, including short-term capital flows, with a vie w to providing information to the market and promoting stability. Strengthening Financial Systems 40. Under our initiative to Strengthen Financial Market Supervision, two action plans were developed for strengthening training of bank supervisor s and securities regulators in APEC economies. We endorse these plans and call for their timely and comprehensive implementation. We thank the Asi an Development Bank for its assistance in developing these plans and for its commitment, together with that of the South East Asian Central Banks Research and Training Centre (SEACEN) and the Asia-Pacific Regional Commi ttee of IOSCO, to assist in their implementation. We look forward to rece iving a progress report at our next meeting. 41. We welcome other training initiatives launched within our own region: the joint initiative of Canada and the World Bank to establish the Toron to International Leadership Centre for Financial Sector Supervision; the opening of the ADB Institute in Tokyo; the IMF-Singapore Regional Trainin g Institute (STI); and bilateral training assistance provided by individu al economies. 42. We welcome the initiative of the APEC Financiers Group to create a pr ivate-sector training and education program for financiers across the APE C region. We call on our APEC Deputies to work actively with the financie rs on this initiative and look forward to a status report. 43. As part of our efforts to draw lessons from the recent crisis and str engthen our economies, we agreed to launch an initiative to be co-ordinat ed by Malaysia in conjunction with the World Bank and the Asian Developme nt Bank, to examine ways of strengthening corporate governance in our reg ion. This work would recognize work going on in other fora. As part of th is initiative, we welcomed Australia's offer to host a seminar to bring t ogether senior business people from our economies to identify priorities for reform in this area. We look forward to reviewing a report on this su bject at our next meeting. From panap at panap.po.my Tue May 26 18:28:45 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 18:28:45 Subject: [asia-apec 443] Statement from the APEC Finance Ministers Meeting (Part 3 of 3) Message-ID: <1490@panap.po.my> (Cont'd) Other Matters and Future Meetings 44. We welcome the progress made by the Sub-Committee on Customs Procedur es (SCCP) in their twelve-point collective Action Plan to facilitate trad e in the region. The "Blueprint for APEC Customs Modernization" and the " Guidelines for SCCP and Business Strategic Partnerships" are important co ntributions for strengthening co-operation with the business community. Reaffirming that trade facilitation and enforcement must be well co-ordin ated, we encourage customs authorities to continue strengthening such co- operation. 45. We also encourage our officials to expand coverage of bilateral tax t reaties with appropriate economies in the region in conformity with inter national norms and to continue the useful dialogue on taxation through AP EC-OECD joint symposia of tax officials. We look forward to the results o f the next APEC-OECD tax symposium in Manila. 46. We reaffirm our appreciation to the APEC Financiers Group for their o ngoing participation in the APEC Finance Ministers' process. We had a ver y useful discussion with the Group on the importance of implementing the necessary measures to resolve in a timely manner Year 2000 problems in ou r economies. We urge the World Bank and the ADB to help economies to addr ess this issue. We call on the supervisory and regulatory authorities in our economies to work with one another, and with the Basle Committee on B anking Supervision, IOSCO, and the IAIS as they review and monitor Year 2000 compliance efforts by all financial institutions. 47. We would like to thank the people and Government of Canada and the De partment of Finance for the hospitality extended to all the delegations a nd the excellent arrangements they have made to make the fifth APEC Finan ce Ministers Meeting a success. We also thank the chairman of the APEC Fi nance Ministers Meeting, the Honourable Paul Martin, for his valuable con tribution to the success of this meeting. 48. We look forward to the next meeting of APEC Finance Ministers in Pena ng, Malaysia. 49. Finally, we will report to the APEC Economic Leaders on the outcomes and recommendations of this APEC Finance Ministers Meeting and on any sub sequent and related matters, on the occasion of their next meeting in Mal aysia in November. Annex A Regional Forum on Securitization: Although securitization is fast becomin g an important source of financing, many structural, regulatory, fiscal a nd other obstacles continue to inhibit its further development. In an eff ort to begin to address these obstacles, an international conference on s ecuritization and a workshop for regulators from within the APEC region w ere held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last December. A survey on the status of securitization activities in APEC member economies was carried out to gather information on these activities in APEC economies and to identify pertinent developmental issues and regulatory concerns. Based on the outc ome of these activities, we encourage the development of securitization a ctivities through (i) the continued removal of impediments to market deve lopment; (ii) enhanced training and technical assistance to facilitate th e removal of impediments to market development; and (iii) the continued s haring of expertise among our economies. We have adopted a voluntary action plan to assist individual member econo mies that are interested in accelerating the development of securitizatio n activities in their own markets. Regional Forum on Pension Fund Reform: Officials from many of our member economies, together with academics and experts from the IFIs, attended th e Regional Forum that was held from February 4-6 1998, in Cancun, Mexico. The forum had as overall objectives the interchange of expertise, inform ation and best practices of pension systems across the APEC region, and t he discussion of: the lessons of Latin American pension reforms for APEC economies; the potential for reform and its impact on the development of financial markets, domestic savings, and income distribution; the strateg ies for the administration of pension funds; the prudential regulation of pension funds investments; and the relative role of the private and the public sectors in pension fund management. A background report describing the pension systems of the APEC economies and outlining the major issues and difficulties was prepared by the ADB. We recognized that pension funds can play an important role in mobilizing private savings, and broadening, together with other institutional inves tors, the demand base, especially for long-term debt instruments. Moreove r, permitting pension funds to invest in financial instruments other than low-income government bonds can greatly enhance the supply of long-term finance to the private sector. We also recognized that factors such as ag eing populations, low levels of national savings, unsustainable pressure on public finances and distortions created by high social security contri butions make pension fund reform a priority for many APEC economies, plac ing it at the top of the economic and social agenda. While pension reform s can be spread along a broad spectrum, a sound prudential and regulatory framework is necessary for all types of public and private pension schem es. Strengthening Financial Market Supervision: Recognizing the importance of sufficiently trained financial supervisors, we assessed the adequacy of existing training programs for both bank supervisors and securities regul ators. We identified significant unmet training needs and limitations in the training management process at the domestic level, and determined tha t enhanced regional and international co-ordination to address these conc erns would be useful. Importantly, we recognized that improvements in tra ining programs would only be effective in enhancing the quality of superv ision where a sound supervisory and regulatory regime is in place, and th at training programs should be based on sound supervisory and regulatory principles. Based on these results, we agreed to implement in a timely and comprehens ive manner the Action Plans for Strengthening Training of Bank Supervisor s and Securities Regulators in APEC economies. The Action Plans include m easures to improve the quality of training programmes at the domestic lev el and to strengthen co-ordination in meeting training needs through regi onal and international programmes. Regional advisory groups will be estab lished to oversee the implementation of the Action Plans, while the day-t o-day responsibilities will be overseen by a secretariat to be funded and located at the ADB. We thank the ADB for its valuable assistance in impl ementing the Action Plans and for funding the secretariat and the technic al assistance requirements of both plans. Enhanced co-operation among export financing institutions: Export financi ng institutions (EFIs) can play a catalytic role in mitigating risks and mobilizing private-sector financing for infrastructure development. Repr esentatives of the Export Financing Institutions (EFIs) in the APEC regio n have met several times to discuss the role of EFIs in promoting private sector infrastructure projects, including the opportunities for co-opera tion among EFIs through information exchange, knowledge transfer, possibl e co-lending, and the opportunity for policy dialogue between EFIs and ho st economies. EFIs also discussed their role in the wake of the Asian fi nancial instability as an important example of EFI co-operation. We recog nize different mandates and approaches in various EFIs, however we expec t a synergy effect through their co-operation. In view of strengthening E FI co-operation, we also welcome the protocol agreement which sets out a framework for promoting technical co-operation and has been signed by fif teen EFIs and Export Credit Agencies from across the region. Supporting the development of credit rating agencies and strengthening in formation disclosure standards: We encourage the development of independe nt rating agencies according to international best practices. In order to assess the status of existing rating agencies we examined the current ex periences with credit rating agencies in the region to determine how well they are fulfilling their key role in promoting the flow of timely and a ccurate information across capital markets. The results of work completed thus far include the identification of some of the important issues to b e addressed, some of which pertain to the scope for harmonization and inc reasing the transparency of credit rating agencies' activities. We are cu rrently examining experiences in the region regarding credit rating servi ces. We hope to identify ways to improve rating agencies' ability to prom ote the flow of timely and accurate information to capital markets. We al so encourage steps to strengthen information disclosure standards in the region consistent with international best practices. Strengthening clearing and settlement infrastructure: Modern clearing and settlement systems are integral to capital market development. The ADB a nd several member economies stand ready to provide technical assistance t o help strengthen clearing and settlement systems in economies with less advanced systems. We welcome the report of the Executive Meeting of East Asian and Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP) in this area. From panap at panap.po.my Tue May 26 18:25:24 1998 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 18:25:24 Subject: [asia-apec 444] Statement from The APEC Finance Ministers Meeting (part 1 of 3) Message-ID: <1488@panap.po.my> APEC Finance Ministers Meeting Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada May 23-24, 1998 Joint Ministerial Statement 1. We, the Finance Ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (A PEC)[1] forum met in Kananaskis, Canada to assess future prospects for gr owth and development within our region in light of the Asian crisis and t o discuss policies and measures to improve such prospects. The meeting in Kananaskis marked the fifth time this forum has convened. 2. We welcomed Peru, Russia and Vietnam as official observers to our meet ing, and look forward to their induction as full member economies in Nove mber in Malaysia. 3. Our discussions focussed on two broad themes. The first was an assessm ent of the current economic situation and policies to restore financial s tability and growth, including measures to strengthen social safety nets to help cushion the impact of the crisis on the poor. The second was the development and strengthening of financial markets in the region so as to reduce the likelihood of future financial instability and to facilitate the continued dynamic growth of the region. In this regard, we reaffirm our commitment to doing our part to support the APEC goal of free and open trade and investment by 2010 in developed economies and by 2020 in devel oping economies. 4. The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Pr esident of the Asian Development Bank, and the President of the World Ban k joined our discussions. 5. We had a constructive dialogue with the APEC Financiers Group and key representatives of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and the Paci fic Economic Co-operation Council (PECC) on measures to encourage the res umption of private capital flows to affected economies. We also recognize d the importance of the Year 2000 problem and urge all the economies in o ur region to take urgent action to address this issue. We express our app reciation to the panellists who guided discussions in those sessions. Causes of the Financial Instability in Asia 6. We reviewed key macroeconomic and structural issues in the APEC region . The financial turmoil in Asia over the past year has affected not only the APEC region, but has also been a major source of uncertainty in the world economic outlook generally. In this regard, while there are many di stinct causes of the crisis in Asia, we also noted some similarities to t he conditions leading up to the financial instability experienced by Mexi co and other parts of Latin America in 1994-95, such as large short-term capital inflows, growing current account deficits as well as inadequate b anking supervision and regulation. 7. In the decade leading up to the Asian crisis, generally prudent macroe conomic policies had contributed to strong economic growth in most of the Asian economies. During the mid-1990s, however, signs of overheating eme rged as high investor confidence and ready access to capital fuelled exce ss domestic demand in some economies. This contributed to asset market in flation and large current account deficits, which were financed by large capital inflows from developed economies. These inflows placed strains on policy and institutional frameworks that, in the end, proved excessive f or some economies. 8. In retrospect, some economies clung too long to an unsustainable and i ncompatible mix of exchange rate and monetary policies, even after signs of vulnerability had emerged. In those cases, rigid exchange rate arrange ments and close ties to the U.S. dollar limited the ability of monetary p olicy to control overheating pressures and encouraged foreign borrowing b y the private sector, often at short maturities. The combination of these factors contributed to an excessive accumulation of short-term, unhedged foreign-currency-denominated debt. Inadequate supervision and corporate governance, particularly in the financial sector, inadequate intermediati on of foreign and domestic savings, and government-directed lending also contributed to inefficient investment. 9. At the same time, strong growth masked existing structural problems, i ncluding in the financial sector. Rapid cross-border capital flows in a g lobalized and integrated financial market also introduced new challenges for macroeconomic management and rendered some of these economies vulnera ble to adverse external developments, especially sudden reversals in mark et sentiments. 10. In 1997, these problems became more apparent as a result of a number of developments in the major industrialized economies, including a weaken ing in import demand, particularly for key export products from the Asian region. The U.S. dollar's rise in value against major currencies may hav e also played a role in a loss of competitiveness of the region's exports . 11. Although the situations of individual economies varied across the reg ion, instability tended to spread to economies that markets perceived to have similar vulnerabilities. In some cases, a lack of transparency in fi nancial systems contributed to these market perceptions. We also note tha t in some cases markets did not appear to differentiate appropriately on the basis of available information about the economic fundamentals of the se economies. 12. We agreed that speculation in financial markets was not the root caus e of the turmoil, although it may have played a role in exacerbating herd ing behaviour and spreading volatility. We took note of the useful work d one by the IMF in its study "Hedge Funds and Financial Market Dynamics." We agreed to keep these issues, including the role of institutional inves tors and their investment behaviour, under consideration in our future me etings, with contributions as appropriate by the IMF. 13. In our discussions, we focussed on two dimensions of the response to the recent turmoil. The first was the challenge of restoring stability an d promoting recovery in the affected economies. The second involved reinf orcing our financial systems, and indeed the global financial system, so as to reduce the likelihood of future recurrences. Restoring Stability and Promoting Recovery 14. We acknowledge the crisis is a global problem with regional manifesta tions. In reaffirming the central role of the IMF, we echo our APEC Econo mic Leaders call in Vancouver regarding the Manila Framework for Enhanced Asian Regional Co-operation to Promote Financial Stability, and we welco me developments that support that call, including the formation of region al economic surveillance mechanisms. 15. We endorse the approach of the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Deve lopment Bank in addressing the financial instability in Asia. We applaud the efforts of these multilateral institutions and bilateral donors to pr ovide valuable financial and technical assistance to Thailand, Indonesia and Korea to help them meet the numerous challenges they face including c orporate and financial restructuring, balance of payments difficulties, t rade financing needs and the severe social effects of the recent financia l turmoil. We welcome the IMF's creation of the Supplemental Reserve Faci lity, to help address problems posed by sudden changes of market sentimen t toward individual or groups of economies. We also welcome the enhanced financial resources provided by the Japan Special Funds, at the World Ban k and the Asian Development Bank, and the ASEM trust fund, at the World B ank, for assisting economies in dealing with the effects of the recent cr isis. 16. We call for the early ratification of the increase in quotas approved by the Board of Governors in January 1998 and of the New Arrangements to Borrow in order to ensure that the IMF has adequate resources to respond to any spread or intensification of the current crisis and to handle fut ure crises. 17. We commend those economies in the Asian region that have taken diffic ult and courageous measures to deal with the causes of the instability. W e welcome signs of improved prospects in Thailand and Korea as implementa tion of their IMF-supported economic programs has progressed. We expresse d deep concerns about the recent economic and social situation in Indones ia. We welcome the new President's support for political and economic ref orm and his commitment to implement the recently-strengthened IMF-support ed program. We look forward to progress toward economic and political conditions that will permit the restoration of confidence that is essential for recovery . Overall, the long-term fundamentals in the region remain strong and we are confident that the region will regain its dynamism. We agree, however , that there is no room for complacency as difficult adjustments and chal lenges remain. 18. We note the continuing importance of long-term capital flows, particu larly foreign direct investments, for growth in the Asian region. We disc ussed this in our joint session with the APEC Financiers Group and conclu ded that a sustained resumption will require not only a stabilised macroe conomic and exchange rate environment, but also significant reforms in th e corporate and financial sectors and improvements in the transparency of market arrangements. We have also noted that those economies that have undertaken these reform s earlier have been able to weather the crisis better and maintain invest or confidence. The Philippines, for example, was the first Asian sovereig n borrower to tap the international capital markets after the onset of th e financial turmoil in Asia. Korea and Thailand, which have shown their s teady and strong commitment to reforms, have seen improvements in the val ue of their currencies and have recently returned to international capital markets. 19. The recent instability has, however, left financial sectors in the re gion severely weakened, with a large stock of non-performing loans and an increased burden of foreign currency debt. Forceful action to restore he alth to domestic financial systems in many economies is clearly vital for the resumption of capital flows and growth. We endorse the work the Worl d Bank and the Asian Development Bank are carrying out in supporting the affected Asian economies to reform and strengthen their financial systems and promote sound corporate restructuring. 20. We especially took note of the social impact of the turmoil and the a djustment policies necessitated by it. In the coming months, as companies restructure, the level of unemployment in a number of economies may rise even further. The situation is placing strains on the social fabric and the burden in many cases falls on the poorer segments of society and thos e least able to protect themselves, especially women and children. In Ind onesia there is even evidence of food shortages and inadequate medical su pplies. 21. These problems make it important to expand and strengthen social safe ty nets and other forms of support that exist in these economies. In this regard, we applaud the efforts of the ADB and the World Bank to date to help the affected economies deal with the social impact of the turmoil. W e also recognized the flexibility that the IMF has shown in adapting its program requirements to changing economic and social circumstances in the region. We urge these institutions to continue to look for innovative wa ys of offering support for those hardest hit by the instability. 22. It will also be important for international financial institutions to consider ways to support environmental protection in these economies as they respond to the crisis. 23. We welcome the efforts by those APEC economies less affected by the i nstability to support economies' prospects in the region as a whole by pu rsuing policies that promote domestically-led growth. We commend those AP EC economies that have demonstrated their policy commitment to maintain s tability of their exchange rates, thereby helping to restore confidence i n this region. We encourage all economies to maintain movement towards op en markets. In this context, as called for by APEC Economic Leaders in Va ncouver, we appreciate efforts by other APEC fora towards early voluntary sectoral liberalization, in the areas on tariffs, non-tariff measures, t rade facilitation, and economic and technical co-operation. 24. We recognized that adequate access to trade financing is imperative t o allow industries to import needed inputs to facilitate the recovery of domestic production. In this regard, we welcome efforts by the OECD and r egional governments to maintain and expand existing official export finan cing programs designed so that economies undertaking IMF-supported adjust ment programs do not experience unnecessary disruptions in their trade fl ows. We encourage the ADB and the World Bank to look for appropriate ways in which they may support the restoration of financing for small- and me dium-sized companies in affected economies, as the ADB is already doing i n Thailand through the use of credit enhancements. We strongly urge our p rivate sectors to base their assessment of individual banks' credit-worth iness on the relevant facts and not on any simple regional formula. In ad dition, we noted that the private sector (both creditors and debtors) sho uld be encouraged to play a greater role in the resolution of financial c rises. From aiwa at igc.apc.org Wed May 27 06:39:07 1998 From: aiwa at igc.apc.org (Asian Immigrant Women Advocates) Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 13:39:07 -0800 Subject: [asia-apec 445] Re: tax-free Internet Message-ID: Please remove us from your mailing list. sincerely, aiwa@igc.apc.org Asian Immigrant Women Advocates 310 8th Street #301 1461 Kerley Drive #18 Oakland, CA 94607 San Jose, CA 95112 (510) 268-0192 ph (408)452-1604 ph/fax (510) 268-0194 fax aiwa@igc.apc.org From aiwa at igc.apc.org Wed May 27 06:39:09 1998 From: aiwa at igc.apc.org (Asian Immigrant Women Advocates) Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 13:39:09 -0800 Subject: [asia-apec 446] Re: Statement from APEC Finance Ministers Meeting (Part2 of 3) Message-ID: Please remove us from your mailing list. sincerely, aiwa@igc.apc.org Asian Immigrant Women Advocates 310 8th Street #301 1461 Kerley Drive #18 Oakland, CA 94607 San Jose, CA 95112 (510) 268-0192 ph (408)452-1604 ph/fax (510) 268-0194 fax aiwa@igc.apc.org