[asia-apec 1656] APEC and Vietnam

[Interhemispheric Resource Center]

Dear Colleagues,
Below are links to two of latest FPIF policy briefs
that relate to President Clinton's trip to South East
Asia.
best regards,
Tim

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FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS
http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/index.html
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Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
by John Gershman (FPIF Asia Pacific Editor)
http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol5/v5n39apec.html

Together, the APEC countries account for nearly half of the world’s
merchandise trade, half the global GNP, and approximately half of the
world’s population. Operating from a modest secretariat in Singapore,
APEC sponsors regular meetings and annual summits of senior government
officials and heads of state. APEC operates by consensus rather than
through binding agreements and the type of legalism evident in the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or the European Union (EU).
Through a process of “concerted unilateralism,” APEC members define
broad regional goals but leave the specific aspects of implementation to
each nation.

As the world’s broadest regional economic institution, APEC is worth
preserving if it can do two things: 1) contribute to community building
efforts in the region that address shared social, environmental, and
economic challenges, and 2) move toward a more balanced sustainable
development agenda. As first steps, the U.S. could gain support for
these two goals by abandoning its liberalization-for-everyone approach,
increasing its support for capacity building efforts at the national and
regional levels through the eco-tech process, and leading by example at
home.

Beyond liberalization, the U.S. has no serious proposals to offer at APEC. 
While the U.S. concentrates on overcoming the objections to what regional 
leaders see as Washington’s agenda for a U.S.-dominated pattern of 
globalization, other problems raised by U.S. citizen groups and regionally 
based NGOs receive little attention. A central complaint is that APEC is 
opaque and undemocratic. As a result, citizen organizations have difficulty 
raising their concerns about the development process in the Asia-Pacific 
region.

Overcoming the Legacy of the Vietnam War 
By Andrew Wells-Dang
http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/briefs/vol5/v5n26vietnam.html

Breaking the current deadlock in U.S.-Vietnam relations requires
substantive new initiatives on the part of the United States. Of primary
importance is the bilateral trade agreement—not because signing it will
bring Vietnam the economic benefits that the U.S. business lobby claims,
but because it removes a critical cold war-era roadblock to full
relations. Increased access for U.S. corporations will, of course, have
dubious effects on Vietnam’s workers and overall social development. But
the effects of the trade agreement may well be less significant than
claimed by either its proponents or its detractors. Few Vietnamese
companies are in a position to expand rapidly into the U.S. market, and
potential U.S. investors may find their returns smaller than expected.
Contrary to President Clinton’s hyperbole, the agreement will not
“dramatically open” Vietnam’s economy or society, let alone “go
hand-in-hand with [improvements in] human rights.”

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A joint project of the Interhemispheric Resource Center and the 
Institute for Policy Studies, FPIF is an international network of 
analysts and activists dedicated to “making the U.S. a more responsible 
global leader and partner.” We encourage responses to the opinions 
expressed and may print them in the "Letters and Comments" 
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consider visiting FPIF’s website: http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/.

submit comments to: tim at irc-online.org


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Tim McGivern
tim at irc-online.org
Foreign Policy in Focus
http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org