Head of Peru's Commission on APEC hopes globalisation can reach out to marginalised communities

Record ID: 78568

  • Title: Head of Peru's Commission on APEC hopes globalisation can reach out to marginalised communities
  • Date: 17th November 2016
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (NOVEMBER 17, 2016) (REUTERS) SIGN FOR ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC) CFO 2016 SUMMIT SECURITY ON SITE CARS PASSING BY PERUVIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SITE OF APEC SUMMIT
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2016 16:37
  • Keywords: APEC Peru Mercedes Araoz globalisation protectionism Donald Trump TPP
  • Location: LIMA, PERU
  • City: LIMA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: Government/Politics,International Trade
  • Reuters ID: LVA00158U3P6V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Peru is hoping the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) regional summit it's hosting this weekend can grow to benefit the very communities becoming angry at these very kinds of events, the head of Lima's APEC commission told Reuters in an interview.
    With the surprising election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, and referendum in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, a tide is rising across the world of protectionism and anti-globalization impulses.
    U.S. President Barack Obama had framed the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which excludes China and Russia, as a way for Washington to set trade rules for the fast-growing Pacific-rim region before Beijing does, part of his "pivot to Asia."
    But during his election campaign, Trump took a protectionist stance on trade issues and labelled the TPP championed by President Obama a "disaster". There is now little chance of it coming up for vote in Washington before Trump's inauguration in January.
    Where trade norms among APEC nations proceed remains an open question. But for Mercedes Araoz, Peru's second vice president, and the head of the Peruvian government's commission on APEC, the best road ahead would be to use the existing infrastructure of globalisation to expand benefits, as opposed to burning everything down.
    "What they're taking issue with is valid in all societies in the face of globalisation, and perhaps a bit of rejection of it. The request is to apply some mechanisms to make it more inclusive. In Peru's case, we have sought, as an issue for us, growth but with quality, and human development. Why? Because we want to make use of tools of this consolidation of deep global integration so the citizens of our region, referring to the citizens living in the APEC region, truly have the chance to feel satisfied that this integration brings to them tangible benefits," Araoz told Reuters in an interview.
    From November 19-20, leaders from China, Russia, the United States and Japan will be in Lima for meetings, taking place just two weeks after the surprising election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States.
    With Trump's surprise victory, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and the host of the APEC summit, told Russian media Pacific-rim countries can forge a new trade deal that includes China to replace the U.S.-led TPP.
    China, leading talks on a deal seen as an alternative to the TPP - the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - said this month that the Pacific-rim area needs a free trade deal as soon as possible and that it would seek support for one during the summit in Lima.
    The original TPP was a free trade agreement between countries located around the Pacific Ocean, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, the United States, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Vietnam and Peru.
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