For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 21, 2003
Fact Sheet
U.S. Accomplishments at the APEC Summit : Day Two
Presidential Action
President Bush came to the APEC Leaders meeting to urge decisive
action to ensure both prosperity and security. He welcomed Leaders
agreement to seek an ambitious outcome in the Doha global trade
negotiations, and to accelerate economic reforms to spur growth.
Leaders also endorsed a U.S. -driven energy security initiative. They
urged action to bridge the digital divide, and the United States
announced Indonesia and Peru as new partners in the Digital Freedom
Initiative.
Recognizing that terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction are "direct and profound challenges to APEC's vision of
free, open and prosperous economies," Leaders agreed on new security
commitments. They pledged to dismantle transnational terrorist groups,
eliminate the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, and confront other direct threats to the region. These
security commitments will complement APEC's economic goals. Leaders
also endorsed action to protect civil aviation, build counterterrorism
capacity, and enhance health security.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Structural Reform: President Bush has taken decisive action with
his Jobs and Growth Plan to spur economic growth at home. Today, APEC
Leaders agreed on the need to accelerate economic reforms to ensure
sustained growth and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
Energy: APEC Leaders endorsed an action plan on energy to help
ensure the long-term growth of regional economies. They agreed
specifically to:
- Facilitate natural gas trade and promote private sector
investment;
- Enhance emergency response mechanisms, including strategic
oil stocks; and
- Promote investment in clean energy technolgies and sources,
such as hydrogen and methane hydrates.
Digital Freedom Initiative: The United States announced the
expansion of the Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI) to two APEC
countries, Peru and Indonesia. DFI promotes transfer of information
and communications technology to benefit entrepreneurs and small
businesses in developing countries. With this expansion of DFI, the
United States will advance APEC's goal of bridging the digital divide
and generating growth and opportunity.
SECURITY
Commitments on Security: Recognizing that prosperity and security
are inseperable, APEC Leaders agreed to "dedicate APEC not only to
advancing the prosperity of our economies, but also to the
complementary mission of ensuring the security of our people."
Specifically, the 21 Leaders committed to "take all essential actions" to:
- "Dismantle, fully and without delay, transnational terrorist
groups"t hat threaten the APEC economies.
- "Eliminate the severe and growing danger posed by the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of
delivery" by strengthening international nonproliferation regimes,
adopting and enforcing effective export controls, and taking other
legitimate and appropriate measures against proliferation.
- "Confront other direct threats to the security of our
region."
These commitments on security will complement APEC's 1994 Bogor
Goals on free trade and investment. Leaders pledged to discuss
progress toward these commitments and take specific actions in pursuit
of them at their annual meetings. To that end, Leaders this year
endorsed initiatives on civil aviation, counterterrorism, and health
security.
Protecting Civil Aviation: APEC Leaders took steps to protect
international aviation by committing to combat the proliferation of
shoulder-launched missiles (or man-portable air defense systems,
MANPADS). Leaders agreed to adopt strict domestic export controls on
MANPADS; secure stockpiles; regulate MANPADS production, transfer, and
brokering; ban transfers to non-state end-users; and exchange
information in support of these efforts. Leaders will continue efforts
to strengthen controls and review progress at next year's Leaders
meeting in Chile.
Counterterrorism (CT) Capacity-Building: APEC Leaders agreed to
coordinate counterterrorism capacity-building activity in the
Asia-Pacific region with the Counter Terrorism Action Group (CTAG),
launched by the G-8 in June 2003. CTAG will initially focus its
efforts on Southeast Asia.
New Asian Development Bank CT Facility: With U.S. leadership, APEC
also agreed to establish a regional trade and financial security
initiative within the Asian Development Bank -- the first of its kind
to be housed at a multilateral development bank. The initiative will
support projects to enhance port security, combat terrorist finance,
and achieve other counterterrorism objectives. The United States agreed
to help launch this facility by contributing funds and in-kind support
totaling $5.4 million. Japan and Australia have also pledged to
contribute to this initiative.
Promoting Health Security: The APEC Leaders adopted a Health
Security Initiative to enhance APEC members' ability to prevent and
respond to the outbreak of disease and the threat of bioterrorism.
Specifically, they agreed to:
- Pursue focused efforts to monitor disease, contain outbreaks
and coordinate responses;
- Increase pathogen security;
- Establish a strict code of ethical and operational conduct
for bio-scientists; and
- Strengthen export controls and criminal laws against
offensive biological weapons.
APEC Leaders welcomed the establishment of the Joint U.S.-Singapore
Regional Emerging Disease Intervention (REDI) Center to enhance
regional efforts to prevent and respond to disease.
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