NOTES ON THE ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC), 1989-2015: A CONFUSED NEOLIBERALISMSENTROUL! 9, 2015"OR#ERS$ HOUSE"H! IMMEDIATEL! SA! NEOLIBERAL% Trubek (2009) outlines varying economic conceptions: Classical Developmentalism Neoliberal Reaction Northeast Asian Exceptionalism More importantly, globalization as we experience it today is defined by time-space compression (Harvey) and speed-space (Virilio). he most often main res!lt of this is enforced social and political uniformity!"ic" is problematic considering "o! vastly#varying societies are$ APEC, AS WE SHALL LL!S"#A"E LA"E#, S $E%&'S"#A"VE &( "HS A)E'$A*BASIC HISTOR! "rainchild of then#$rime Minister of A!stralia "ob %aw&e d!rin' a speech in (eo!l, )orea on %& 'anuary &9(9. *ater that year, +, Asia#$acific co!ntries established the platform- A!stralia, "r!nei Dar!ssalam, Canada, .ndonesia, /apan, )orea, Malaysia, New 0ealand, the $hilippines, (in'apore, hailand and the 1nited (tates. hese co!ntries were later 2oined in +33+ by China, %on' )on', and aiwan. Mexico and $ap!a New 4!inea participated startin' +335. while Chile hopped on board in +336. "y +337, A$EC 'ains ,+ member#nations with $er!, R!ssia and 8ietnam 2oinin'. "etween +373 and +33,, A$EC met as an informal senior official and Ministerial level dialo'!e9!ntil +335, when then#1.(. $resident "ill Clinton instit!tionali:ed ann!al A$EC Economic *eaders; Meetin'. he A$EC has 5 formal observers- the Association of (o!theast Asian Nations ilipinos in the ownership of financin' companies or their co!nterpart entities.H;$ +arly 9oluntary atural .ubber: FNominal tariff on nat!ral r!bber decreased from ,GJ in +33, to 5J in +337. his was a res!lt of the R$ implemented !nder Exec!tive Brders 6EG or plywood, the nominal tariff rate stood at +CJin +33+, was red!ced to ++.CGJin +33C, only to be raised to +6.55J in +33D and then red!ced to +5.,GJ and ++J in +33E and +337, respectively.H&&$ 1is" and 1is" *roducts: FEliminatin' tariffs on the above prod!cts not later than ,C December ,GGC, convertin' specific d!ties to ad valorem rates, and abolishin' compo!nd rates which started last + /an!ary +333. $rod!cts with ,GJ d!ty or less wo!ld be phased o!t I!ic&ly. As for non#tariff meas!res, these wo!ld be eliminated not later than 5+ December ,GGE. >ish prod!cts with s!bsidies and are s!b2ect to sanitary and phytosanitary meas!res that are inconsistent with the AB a'reement sho!ld be removed by 5+ December ,GG5.HOF COURSE, IT "AS EASIER SAID THAN DONE)/t must not be assumed t"at )*+,?s agenda "as been uncritically accepted by all its member#states0 considering "o! &) t"e 7ogor 8oals t"emselves are ad@ustable depending on t"e economic interest of t"e state0 and 2) )sian economic conditions are at a disadvantage in )*+,?s agenda (Aade 200;):As long as the East Asian system operates on the basis of longterm relationships, patient capital and government guarantees, Anglo-American capital is at a disadvantage in these markets. On the other hand, US and U financial firms kno! they can beat all comers in an institutional conte"t of arms-length relations, stock markets, open capital accounts and ne! financial instruments. #herefore the Asian system must be changed to more closely resemble theirs.$APEC ALSO FOR'ETS THAT DE(ELOPMENT IS UNPLANNED (RI'' 2012))THIS HAS LED TO PROBLEMATIC RESULTS O(ER THE !EARS)2kamoto0 2005- FLMhe Early 8ol!ntary (ectoral *iberali:ation 3FG)> ,)*/T)= B+9+=2*G+>T $romotin' &nowled'e#based economiesQ $romotin' science R technolo'y ed!cation and innovation in A$ECQ Developin' 2ob s&ills needed by A$EC b!siness in the ,+st cent!ryQ and .nternationali:ation of ed!cation@cross#border ed!cation to develop A$EC#wide s&ills. 128 /> .+8/2>)= )>B 8=27)= G).H+T< Removin' barriers to (MEs, incl!din' entry to mar&etsQ $romotin' incl!sive 'rowth thro!'h s!stainable and resilient (MEsQ and Advocatin' moderni:ation and standard conformance amon' (MEs."HAT DO "E LOO# FOR"ARD TO IN APEC 2015% 7F/=B/>8 B .+T ,2GGF>/T/+< Creatin' and promotin' ris& red!ction and mana'ement in A$EC economiesQ "!ildin' resilient infrastr!ct!reQ >osterin' b!siness contin!ityQ "!ildin' (MEsN resilience to disasterQ Enhancin' food sec!rity and the "l!e Economy in the A$EC re'ionQ and $romotin' coastal mana'ement and marine conservation. +>3)>,/>8 T3+ .+8/2>)= +,2>2G/, />T+8.)T/2> )8+>B) (tren'thenin' re'ional economic inte'ration thro!'h the "o'or 4oals6Q $romotin' connectivity thro!'h rade in (ervices, which will foc!s on the people#to#people and instit!tional connectivity within the re'ionQ Advancin' financial mar&ets aimed at creatin' stron'er financial instit!tions within the re'ion to better respond to prospective economic shoc&sQ and (tren'thenin' 'lobal s!pply chain@'lobal val!e chains in the A$EC re'ion."E HA(E TO BE "AR! OF RHETORIC (S) ACTUAL POLIC! PROPOSALS)PERHAPS BEESON (2009) SA!S IT BEST:1or an organization t"at began !it" suc" "ig" "opes0 )*+, "as ac"ieved surprisingly little$ I T"e failure of )*+,?s arc"itects to take due cognizance of t"is possibility "as been at t"e "eart of t"e organization?s inability to institutionalize meaningful reform or to fulfill t"eJfreEuently conflicting and contradictoryJ"opes of its founders$