APEC leaders approve roadmap for free trade

A number of initiatives to boost regional economy and fair trade were also approved with a pledge to deepen cooperation, support open trade and strengthen connectivity among member nations.China, the host country, pledged $40 billion for the Silk Road Fund to upgrade Eurasian infrastructure. President Xi Jinping announced $10 million for institutional development and capacity […]

A number of initiatives to boost regional economy and fair trade were also approved with a pledge to deepen cooperation, support open trade and strengthen connectivity among member nations.
China, the host country, pledged $40 billion for the Silk Road Fund to upgrade Eurasian infrastructure. President Xi Jinping announced $10 million for institutional development and capacity building of APEC. The leaders adopted the Beijing Roadmap for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, with a commitment to pushing forward the process and agreed set up a network to deal with trans-border cases.
In a communiqué after the meeting, the leaders said: “We agree to establish the Asia-Pacific Model E-port Network (APMEN) and welcome the first batch of APEC Model E-ports nominated by the APEC economies. We endorse the Terms of Reference of the APMEN and agree to set up the APMEN operational center in the Shanghai Model E-port, and instruct officials to make further efforts to contribute to regional trade facilitation and supply chain connectivity”.
The leaders among other things, endorsed the APEC Strategic Plan on Capacity Building to Promote Trade and Investment Agenda which adopts a strategic, goal-oriented and multi-year approach and  instructed officials to take the strategic plan as a guide to develop and implement more tailor-made capacity building programs that contribute to the core trade and investment liberalization and facilitation agenda of APEC.
“We welcome the commitment of APEC economies to move forward with the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, including the notification by many APEC developing economies of their category A TFA obligations. We welcome, as well, the progress this year in improving the performance of APEC supply chains through targeted, focused capacity building and technical assistance”, the communiqué said.  The leaders instructed ministers and senior officials to oversee the implementation of the blueprint on a yearly basis, particularly in reviewing the targets and objectives.