Strengthening capacity building for RTA/FTA negotiations in APEC

Abstract

Capacity building is crucial and necessary in cooperation and integration efforts between two or among several country partners. In the negotiation process, the countries need to build a strong confidence shared among partners that what is being established will be generally fair, equitable, and beneficial to all concerned. Although forging trade agreements is not a simple zero-sum game, mutual benefits must still be evident to all parties and, hopefully, deemed to be enhanced to the satisfaction of all those involved. This requires capacity building at many levels – from the level of negotiators, to institutions and government bureaucracy, to the private sector that will eventually reap the benefits and/or deal with adjustments. However, this endeavor is easier said than done. At the very least, country partners should ensure the existence of a degree of transparency, a shared set of objectives, and a common effort to truly learn from and understand the perspectives of each other.