June 2004

In This ISSUE

• Papers from the Conference on the Impact of the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement are now available. These papers include the Speeches of Trade Minister Vaile and Shadow Trade Minister Stephen Conroy.
• APEClit The online database of publications and research about APEC has been relaunched. It contains a wealth of material including the full text of the output of many APEC Study Centres.
• The Centre has recently conducted three training courses in its Managing Regulatory Change in Financial Services Program.
• The Centre is planning a conference on the proposed Australia-China Free Trade Agreement. The Conference will include key Chinese and Australian experts in aspects likely to be included in such an agreement. It will be held in Sydney on August 12 and 13. Further details will be posted at www.apec.org.au as they become available.
• The International Consortium of APEC Study Centres is holding its annual conference in Vina Del Mar, Chile in late May.
• APEC Calendar of events
  

Australia-US FTA Conference Papers Available

In March 2003 the Australian APEC Study Centre conducted the first major conference on the likely impacts of the effects of the Australia-US FTA. The Conference was conducted in Canberra in conjunction with AUSTA, the Australian Business group. The papers from the confernce are now available from the APEC Centres website.

As a collection these papers represent a broad ranging analysis of what to expect when the Agreement is ratified in the Australian Parliament and the US Congress. The papers include the speech of Trade Minister Mark Vaile titled ‘How the Deal was Done’ which recounts the progress of the negotiations and how the government achieved its objectives. Shadow Trade Minister Stephen Conroy’s presentation outlines the Opposition position on the agreement. There are also contributions from trade experts and business leaders from those industries who are likely to be impacted by the deal.

See the full list of papers and also the Australian APEC Study Centre's other material on the Australia-US FTA.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's website contains further information including the full text of the Agreement.

APEClit Relaunched

APEClit, the online database of publications and research about APEC has been relaunched. It contains a wealth of material including the full text of the output of many APEC Study Centres. The database is now being hosted in conjunction with Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Fulltext Studies, a subscription based service which provides APEC related information for libraries

Access to the APEClit database is free.

The Managing Regulatory Change in Financial Services Activities

The Australian APEC Study Centre, along with its partners in the MRC program, has recently conducted three training programs relating to the banking sector.

Course for Bank executives on implementing Basel 2

The first program relating to the implementation of Basel 2 was conducted in Melbourne recently for 19 executives from banks who are members of the Asian Banker’s Association. The course focused on the key ingredients of the Basel 2 Accord. Fundamental components of the course - include the development and application of best practice techniques for risk management, pricing, capital management, and governance in banks and in regulatory agencies.

The program involved presentations from Australian bankers, consultants, Australian regulatory agencies - APRA, as well as the Commonwealth Treasury - academics and by an official from the Bank of International Settlement.

Participants rated the course highly. Chair of the Australian APEC Study Centre’s Financial Advisory Group, Ken Waller, said “that this contribution by Australian public and private sector groups is extremely important in helping strengthen financial systems, contributing to stability and economic growth in a region of major importance to our own future”.

The program dinner was addressed by the Hon Tim Holding, Minister for Financial Services, Exports and Manufacturing in the Victorian Government. He stressed the importance of Victoria as a major financial services centre in the Asia Pacific and congratulated Monash University and the Australian APEC Study Centre, with the collaboration of the University of Melbourne, on their initiative to provide these training programs to help build capacity in financial services in the Asia Pacific. Professor Richard Parker, Deputy Vice Chancellor represented the University. Professor Kevin Davis, Chair of the Department of Finance at the University of Melbourne, was the technical coordinator for the program.

Courses for Bank regulators from ASEAN Economies

The Australian APEC Study Centre, in cooperation the Department of Finance of the University of Melbourne, held two training programs for Bank Regulators from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies from the 21st – 26th of March and 18th – 23rd of April 2004. The training program, Prudential Regulation and Risk Management in Banking, was funded by the Australian Government’s overseas aid agency, AusAID, in consultation with the ASEAN Secretariat, under the ASEAN Australia Development Cooperation Program.

The 6-day training programs drew participants from 10 economies including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Each economy was invited to nominate six participants, three for each of the training programs. The training program was designed to support efforts under ASEAN’s Hanoi Plan of Action to strengthen financial systems in the region.

Details of the new MRC Program in Financial Services can be found on the MRC Website. A newsletter on activities of the MRC program will be distributed shortly.

Australia China Free Trade Agreement

Since May 2002 the Australian and Chinese Governments have been working to enhance bilateral trade and investment. UNder the Trade and Economic Framework between Australia and the People's Republic of China the governments are conducting the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement Feasibility Study . The Study is due to be completed in October 2005.

The Centre is planning a conference on the proposed Australia-China Free Trade Agreement. The Conference will include key Chinese and Australian experts in aspects likely to be included in such an agreement. It will be held in Sydney on August 12 and 13. Further details will be posted at www.apec.org.au as they become available, You can register your interest by emailing Tim Wilson at the Study Centre.

APEC Study Centres Consortium meets in May 2004

The 2004 Annual Meeting and Conference of the International Consortium of APEC Study Centres is being jointly organised by the Chilean APEC Study Center-Chile Pacific Foundation, PECC (Pacific Economic Cooperation Council) Trade Forum and LAEBA (Latin America/Caribbean and Asia/Pacific Economics and Business Association). It will be held in Vina del Mar, Chile on Wednesday from May 26 - Saturday May 29 2004.

The Australian APEC Study Centre will be represented at the Conference by John McKay and Tim Wilson. A full report of the Conference will be presented in the next issue of APEC Currents.

Information is available from http://www.funpacifico.cl/study_center.htm

APEC Calendar 2004

24 May-02 Jun Pucon, Chile APEC SOM II and Related Meetings
27-28 May Valparaiso, Chile ASC APEC Study Centres Consortium Meeting
1-4 Jun Hong Kong, China, APEC Government Roundtable on Measures to Secure Trade
7-9 Jun Moscow, Russia International Conference - SME and Big Companies Interaction
8 Jun Beijing China Auto Dialogue Steering Committee
11-12 Jun Washington DC, USA Life Sciences Innovation Forum Expert Group Meeting
04-05 Jun Pucon, Chile APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade
15-18 Jun Chiang Mai, Thailand Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group
15-19 Jun Yantai, China APEC E-Commerce Fair
23-25 Jun Arica, Chile 18th Meeting of Finance Ministers Technical Working Group
30 Jun -03 Jul, Sydney Australia APEC Future Leaders Think Tank
27-29 Jul Bali, Indonesia 4th Transport Ministers Meeting
Aug (tba) tba 24th Meeting of Transportation WG
02-04 Aug Bangkok, Thailand APEC Symposium on Quality Management in Postharvest Systems
18-20 Aug Auckland, New Zealand ABAC 3rd Meeting of ABAC 2004
31 Aug-01 Sep Santiago, Chile APEC Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meeting
02-03 Sep Santiago, Chile APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting
19-24 Sep Singapore Telecommunications Working Group
25 Sep-04 Oct Santiago, Chile APEC SOM III and Related Meetings
26-27 Sep Santiago Chile Meeting of Gender Focal Point Network
27-29 Sep Valparaiso, Chile SCCP Meeting of Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures Oct 2004
03-05 Oct Santiago, Chile SMEWG Meeting of SMEWG
06-07 Oct Santiago, Chile APEC Small Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting Nov 2004
15-16 Nov Santiago, Chile Concluding SOM Meeting
16-19 Nov Santiago, Chile CEO Summit
17-18 Nov Santiago, Chile APEC Joint Ministerial Meeting
17-19 Nov Santiago, Chile ABAC 4th Meeting of ABAC
19-21 Nov Santiago, Chile APEC CEO Summit
20-21 Nov Santiago, Chile APEC Informal Leaders' Meeting