Leaders back free trade, fair globalisation at Boao Forum for Asia

BEIJING: After Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference on Tuesday, leaders of other Asian countries and heads of international organizations voiced their support for inter-connectivity, free trade and fair globalization.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi expressed the concern that “the trading regime underpinned by the WTO (World Trade Organization) is eroding”.“As nations look inward, and turn their backs on globalization, we in Asia confront a strategic choice: Whether to follow suit, or to script an alternative, more hopeful vision for our future,” he told the forum. “Our coordinated and tailored approaches must incorporate the enterprising spirit of our people and their common aspirations for a better life.

They must include embracing structural reform, strengthening regional institutions, increasing connectivity, leveraging technology and investing in human capital,” the Chinese media quoted him as saying. Prime Minister Abbasi said today China was a global leader in addressing climate change and in promoting global trade, equitable development and a sustainable world.

President of the Philippines Rodrigo Roa Duterte noted the global shifting of economic weight and might to Asia while it continued its comparatively robust growth in the following decade.“Every Asian country, big or small, has a role to play” for prosperity and peace, he told the forum.

He said yet the economies would encounter challenges ahead. “But we will not be deterred. We seek to partner with responsible businesses – home-grown and foreign based – to drive the progress we envision,” Duterte said while making his speech at the opening of the forum. Duterte said the Philippines remained committed to inter-connectivity, innovation and investment.

“We will continue our efforts to broaden and deepen our economic engagement and cooperation with our friends and neighbours. We must harness the potential for shared growth in our region and beyond,” he said.

“As sovereign equals, the Philippines and China are partners in the building of much-needed infrastructure,” he stressed. “We are bridging bridges of greater understanding between our people. We are working together on strengthening economic complementarities.” “Let me say it again today: the Philippines’’ destiny is in Asia. The Philippines is ready to work with all nations in the region who seek friendship and cooperation,” he said.

Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, emphasized concerns over the impact of high tariffs for countries big and small. He said “Singapore does not believe that imposing unilateral tariffs is the correct solution” as they were not compliant with the World Trade Organization’’s (WTO) rules.

There would always be competition between major powers, but it made all the difference whether competition occurred within a framework of interdependence and generally accepted rules of the game, Lee said at the forum. “More fundamentally, as economists point out, the focus on the bilateral trade imbalance between the US and China is misplaced,” he said. “What matters to a country is not its bilateral trade balance with a specific trading partner, but its overall trade balance with the rest of the world.

Furthermore, the cause of a trade deficit is an imbalance in the domestic economy, in particular when a country consumes more than it produces.“Lee also said that China had responded to the United States’’ trade salvos accordingly and was “careful and calibrated”. “Nevertheless, there is now a serious dispute. Everyone still hopes that before these tariffs are implemented, the two countries will be able to work out an accommodation and head off further escalation,” he added.