APEC Business Forum Dinner

It is a pleasure to be here. Now I know why the generosity of Philippine hospitality is legendary.

Even your theme for the evening, "Northern lights under Southern Skies", is a thoughtful reference to Canada. I'm afraid that next year at this time in Vancouver we may be offering "Northern Lights under Chilly Skies"! But I hope that we will be able to match the warmth of the reception offered by our Philippine hosts.

For those of you who have never visited Vancouver, I can assure you it is a trip worth making. I cannot pretend to be modest about Vancouver, because I believe in all honesty that it has become one of the great cities of the world. It was always a place of breathtaking natural beauty. In recent years it has experienced a remarkable economic boom. As an important transportation hub and international business centre, it has become the Gateway to the Pacific for Canada and for much of North America.

I hope I will have the opportunity to welcome many of you to Vancouver next November.

I am truly excited to participate in the APEC Business Forum and I want first to congratulate President Ramos and the APEC Foundation of the Philippines for organizing this event. Bringing together key business representatives from both sides of the Pacific Ocean is no small undertaking. It is a major achievement.

Practically, of course, this forum provides an opportunity for discussion and networking at the highest level. Meetings such as this help support the friendships, the relationships that are required to strengthen the Asia Pacific community, just as APEC has provided opportunities for personal diplomacy among leaders.

When we look back over the rapid progress of APEC since the first Leaders Meeting in 1993, we can see that much has been achieved. Previous hosts have given us the Vision of Seattle and the Osaka Action Agenda. Now we have the Manila Action Plan.

But without a doubt, APEC's crowning achievement was our commitment at Bogor, Indonesia, to achieve free and open trade and investment in the region by firm target dates -- 2010 for developed members and 2020 for developing partners. Without the strong encouragement of private sector representatives, I am convinced that this bold commitment would not have come about.

Tomorrow, once the official program of APEC Leaders gets under way, we will take an important step toward cementing this partnership between business and government. At their very first session, Leaders will sit down with members of the APEC Business Advisory Council to discuss the challenging and visionary recommendations in their first report.

I understand that Advisory Council Representatives are among each of the delegations represented here tonight. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you on an impressive initiation of your mandate. This report reflects a tremendous amount of work by all members since your first meeting in June. I would like to thank in particular the Chairman, Mr. Ramal, as well as the two co-chairs, Mr. Morufushi of Japan, and Dr. Riddle of Canada.

That you are giving so much of your valuable time and energy demonstrates very clearly that business sees APEC as an important tool to support growth and prosperity. I also do so.

As political leaders we are ready to ensure that the institutions, the environment and the mechanisms are in place to promote regional economic growth. But you must continue to tell us what it is that constrains your own business activity in Asia Pacific. You must tell us how we can help further.

Canada will assume the Chairmanship of the APEC Business Advisory Council in 1997. I will be counting on its Canadian members to serve as the channel from fellow representatives to the leaders. I will be seeking ways of advancing this constructive interaction further between business and government. At the end of the day, our activities must advance the prospects of much more business in the region, they must stimulate economic growth and job creation. That is the bottom line.

APEC is still a young forum, but in its brief history it has come a long way. I am somewhat in awe of the accomplishments of my predecessors. This is particularly true when I look at APEC's overflowing in-basket, and the critical priorities which the region needs to address -- infrastructure, environment, urban growth, just to name a few.

As Canada prepares to assume a leadership role, I keep also firmly in mind the characteristics which define APEC as an international body -- its voluntary and consensus-based nature. Quite clearly, whatever approaches we develop will be fully consulted within APEC as we proceed.

In this context, let us not forget that we are not pursuing economic cooperation in and for itself. Our common objective is to obtain a higher quality of life for our citizens. Indeed, our populations aspire to more and better food, to better education, to a cleaner environment, to social justice and good governance. Economic growth will contribute to this better quality of life for all!

Another key characteristic of APEC is the diversity of its membership, which includes both developed and developing nations.

I am the Leader of a country founded on the premise that diverse peoples can work together for the common goals of economic security and prosperity. I am convinced we will find that the diversity of APEC will be a source of strength.

I believe that Canada has the experience and ideas which will help us in carrying out our impending role on the basis of these elements.

It is in such diversity, for example, that we find the essence of trade: comparative advantage. Each of us can sell what it can produce more efficiently and more effectively. Further, as we buy better and cheaper inputs from our partners, we can produce and export more competitive end products. So long as there are rules that govern these exchanges! So long as we continue to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers!

This explains why APEC members must work together to advance the pace of global negotiations. We must sustain the momentum we have achieved at Bogor, Osaka and Manila and put it to work globally.

According to the Osaka Action Agenda, the implementation of our individual and collective commitments on liberalization will begin on January 1, 1997. And the first review of this implementation will take place a year from now in Vancouver.

In compiling the Manila Action Plan for APEC, the Philippines has done a tremendous service to the region. As well, each of APEC's 18 members has submitted an Individual Action Plan, highlighting voluntary initiatives to be taken to achieve the Bogor commitments.

I am pleased with this package. Canada has fully contributed to it. The Manila Action Plan provides almost a snap shot of the tremendous amount of liberalization and deregulation which is underway in the APEC region.

But it is not a final document. It is only the first stage of an evolutionary process which will lead to the staged elimination of barriers between now and 2020.

A year ago at Osaka, I was pleased that New Zealand took up my proposal that APEC Trade Ministers should meet to ensure that APEC members would work together to prepare for the First WTO Ministerial Review Conference in Singapore next month.

Canada's International Trade Minister, Art Eggleton, has now proposed to Trade Ministers that they meet again next year in Montreal to continue to advance this cause of trade liberalization. I strongly support this initiative.

Let us finally remember that while elimination of tariffs is important to business, it is just as often issues of transparency and red-tape which will determine whether business deals go ahead or not. In its work on customs procedures and setting standards, APEC is already providing very tangible benefits to business in the region.

The other major items on my agenda for next year are also of critical importance to the region. You will remember that last year at Osaka, leaders stressed the importance of dealing with a number of critical issues -- focusing particularly on the impact of population growth and economic transformation on the environment, as well as supplies of food and energy.

Canada has agreed to take a leading role in exploring these issues over the next year. We will ask you to join us. We shall host a major symposium of business, government and academic experts to do so. Without the involvement of the private sector in addressing these related fundamental infrastructure problems, for example, it will be difficult to find solutions.

Shortly before I departed for Manila, I declared in Vancouver that all of 1997 will be designated Canada's Year of Asia Pacific. It will be an opportunity for Canadians across the country to celebrate the many connections that link us to this region.

It is in that context that I want to stress how much we look forward to welcoming you to Canada next year -- not just in November when we plan to conduct the second dialogue between APEC Leaders and the APEC Advisory Council.

I hope that you will also join the host of events which we will be conducting throughout the year. We have ensured that each of the APEC sectoral ministerial meetings planned for next year feature a private sector symposium there will be an opportunity for business leaders to connect directly with potential partners as well as with the APEC Ministers responsible for Transportation, Environment, Energy and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Meetings will take place across Canada.

Our Canada's Year of Asia Pacific will be a remarkable celebration of commerce, culture and enlightenment, involving every community of our vast country. Because we think Canada's Pacific connections are worth celebrating. My fellow Canadians and I are eager to welcome you, to contribute to APEC's success, and to show you that from Vancouver, British Columbia, to St. John's, Newfoundland, all of Canada is a Pacific nation and proud to be so.

Thank you.