[asia-apec 851] Canadian Government Announces Support for APPA

[appasec]

November 4, 1998
(2:15 p.m. EST)
No. 254

CANADA ANNOUNCES CONTRIBUTION TO ASIA-PACIFIC PEOPLES' ASSEMBLY AND
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA PROJECT

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy and International Trade Minister
Sergio Marchi today announced a Canadian contribution of $50 000 to fund
the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly (APPA)and a forum co-hosted by the
Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS) during the
upcoming 1998 APEC Leaders Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The 1998 Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly (APPA) is a conference of
non-governmental
organizations to be held from November 10 to 15 in advance of the APEC
Leaders Meeting,
November 16 to 18. The Vancouver-based IMPACS will co-host with the
Malaysian-based Asian Institute for Development Communications (AIDCOM)
the first meeting of the International Monitoring Group (IMG) on Trade
and Media on November 13.

"As a significant gathering of groups interested in good governance,
human rights and the rule of law, I look forward to the success of the
APPA and the IMG meeting," said Mr. Axworthy. "Canada is dedicated to
furthering discussions on various mechanisms to engage in formal
consultation and dialogue with civil society throughout Asia-Pacific."

More than 300 participants from the Asia-Pacific region are expected to
attend APPA. This year's assembly will address the impact of the current
financial crisis on the Asian and other economies, and review progress
on civil society issues on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

International Trade Minister Marchi commended the organizers of the
Peoples' Assembly. "It is vital that citizens interested in the
opportunities and challenges of trade and investment liberalization
express their views and provide their advice to governments."

The IMG meeting will review the state of free media within APEC, monitor
the impact of trade liberalization on media, and brief media and APEC
officials on recommendations to advance free media in the region.

The Canadian contribution of $25 000 to APPA is for documentation
expenses including publications, flyers and registration packages, while
the $25 000 allocated to IMPACS is to offset costs associated with the
co-ordination of the IMG meeting. In addition, CIDA provided $60 000 to
support an international conference on the engagement of civil society
in the APEC process, held on October 5 in Malaysia.

Leaders from 21 Pacific Rim economies will meet from November 16 to 18
in Kuala Lumpur for the sixth APEC Economic Leaders Meeting. The leaders
meeting will be preceded on November 14 and 15 by the tenth meeting of
APEC ministers responsible for international trade and for foreign
affairs, which Minister Axworthy and Minister Marchi will attend. Both
meetings will include participation, for the first time, of three new
APEC members: Peru, Russia, and Vietnam.

Funding for this contribution was provided for in the February 1998
federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal
framework.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851

Leslie Swartman
Office of the Minister for International Trade
(613) 992-7332

Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874

© Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1998