LIMA， Nov.13 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Peru may well approve the strategic study， which is part of the Beijing Roadmap to the Free-Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP)， said Raul Salazar， a senior Peruvian official， in an interview with Xinhua.
"We have the obligation to continue our central topic， which is the approval of the collective strategic study， which was required by the roadmap established in Beijing in 2014. It is hope this year the leaders will approve the study as a step toward beginning negotiations for FTAAP，" he expressed.
According to Salazar， senior official of Peru to APEC， "this strategic study justifies the start of negotiations."
Said document contains a mixture of initiatives destined to strengthen trade， reduce bureaucratic hurdles， permit SMEs to enter value chains， and improve connectivity， among other areas.
"China has contributed largely to pushing the idea of a free-trade area. This step taken in Beijing...has forced all the members to face the reality that this is necessary for a number of reasons. Peru holds the position that we need an Asia-Pacific free-trade area. It would allow for APEC's work to be deepened and would see free-trade agreements proliferate，" said Salazar.
In this context， Salazar pointed out that APEC seeks for its members to voluntarily and unilaterally open up to free trade. He referred to examples such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP)， both of which are references for the FTAAP strategic study.
For the diplomat， APEC has already made great progress by reducing tariffs to a current average of 5.2 percent， down fr om over 20 percent. Work is also continuing to reduce this further for food exports.
Concerning the presence of President Xi Jinping， he said that "it is a privilege that he is not only participating in the APEC meeting but is also coming for a state visit. This is a very significant choice for Peru， as it shows an emerging economy， so far away， is identified as a trusted partner."
"I think that China， for a while now， has made many efforts to build a strong， consistent and structured relationship with Latin America. It began with investments， first largely to do with trade. Then， came investments in natural resources and extractive industries， which are important for trade and the Chinese economy. There is complementarity as Peru is very rich in minerals and natural resources. We feel privileged for this attention，" he added.
Concerning integration within the region， Salazar responded that "we are aware that physical integration has been slow across the Andes and the jungle. But we have already taken important steps towards physical integration with Brazil and the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA). We are doing our part."
He also pointed to the electrical interconnection Peru has with Ecuador and its plans to supply energy to Chile as other examples.
However， he admitted that China's investments would help in this regard. "I think the stimulus the Chinese government is carrying out is helping， such as the Trans-Oceanic Railway. There is a debate going on about the high costs， the benefits it would bring to Peru， and the route along which it will be built. There is also a very important decision to be taken as to how much Peru will have to invest. But the planning is being done correctly."
To conclude， Salazar said this physical integration would catch up with other integration policies within the Asia-Pacific region. For example， through the APEC Engineering agreement， 14 of the 21 APEC members now allow engineering students to have their studies officially recognized by all other members.
This is just one of the examples of economic and technical cooperation Salazar hopes to see take center stage at the APEC meeting in Peru.
Chinese mainland and Taiwan are in communication on arrangements for a meeting between the two cross-Strait affairs chiefs , a mainland spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Fan Liqing, spokeswoman with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (SCTAO) , made the remarks at a regular press conference.
SCTAO head Zhang Zhijun and Wang Yu-chi, mainland affairs chief in Taiwan at the time , were originally scheduled to meet on Feb. 7-8 in Kinmen. The meeting was postponed as the two sides focused on the aftermath of a TransAsia Airways plane crash in Taiwan on Feb. 4, wh ere more than 40 people , including both Taiwanese and mainlanders, were killed.
Wang later resigned from his post after his former deputy's alleged involvement in confidential information leaks. The future meeting with Zhang will be conducted by his successor , Andrew Hsia.
At Wednesday's press conference, Fan said the negotiating bodies of the mainland and Taiwan-- the mainland-based Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in Taiwan-- are also arranging the next round of talks between the two organizations' leaders , which is scheduled to be held on the mainland.
Fan also reiterated Taiwan personnel participation in mourning the passing of former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew needs to be handled in a proper manner with adherence to the one-China principle.
Fan made the remarks in response to inquiries about Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou's activities in Singapore.
Lee always upheld the one-China policy while he was alive and did a lot of work to improve relations across the Taiwan Strait, the spokeswoman said.
Are you feeling sick and tired of viewing your old Facebook profile? Well , you might like to consider adding Facebook backgrounds within your profile to give it a brand new and eye-catching look. There are various Facebook backgrounds that you may select to transform your.
"We have the obligation to continue our central topic， which is the approval of the collective strategic study， which was required by the roadmap established in Beijing in 2014. It is hope this year the leaders will approve the study as a step toward beginning negotiations for FTAAP，" he expressed.
According to Salazar， senior official of Peru to APEC， "this strategic study justifies the start of negotiations."
Said document contains a mixture of initiatives destined to strengthen trade， reduce bureaucratic hurdles， permit SMEs to enter value chains， and improve connectivity， among other areas.
"China has contributed largely to pushing the idea of a free-trade area. This step taken in Beijing...has forced all the members to face the reality that this is necessary for a number of reasons. Peru holds the position that we need an Asia-Pacific free-trade area. It would allow for APEC's work to be deepened and would see free-trade agreements proliferate，" said Salazar.
In this context， Salazar pointed out that APEC seeks for its members to voluntarily and unilaterally open up to free trade. He referred to examples such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP)， both of which are references for the FTAAP strategic study.
For the diplomat， APEC has already made great progress by reducing tariffs to a current average of 5.2 percent， down fr om over 20 percent. Work is also continuing to reduce this further for food exports.
Concerning the presence of President Xi Jinping， he said that "it is a privilege that he is not only participating in the APEC meeting but is also coming for a state visit. This is a very significant choice for Peru， as it shows an emerging economy， so far away， is identified as a trusted partner."
"I think that China， for a while now， has made many efforts to build a strong， consistent and structured relationship with Latin America. It began with investments， first largely to do with trade. Then， came investments in natural resources and extractive industries， which are important for trade and the Chinese economy. There is complementarity as Peru is very rich in minerals and natural resources. We feel privileged for this attention，" he added.
Concerning integration within the region， Salazar responded that "we are aware that physical integration has been slow across the Andes and the jungle. But we have already taken important steps towards physical integration with Brazil and the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA). We are doing our part."
He also pointed to the electrical interconnection Peru has with Ecuador and its plans to supply energy to Chile as other examples.
However， he admitted that China's investments would help in this regard. "I think the stimulus the Chinese government is carrying out is helping， such as the Trans-Oceanic Railway. There is a debate going on about the high costs， the benefits it would bring to Peru， and the route along which it will be built. There is also a very important decision to be taken as to how much Peru will have to invest. But the planning is being done correctly."
To conclude， Salazar said this physical integration would catch up with other integration policies within the Asia-Pacific region. For example， through the APEC Engineering agreement， 14 of the 21 APEC members now allow engineering students to have their studies officially recognized by all other members.
This is just one of the examples of economic and technical cooperation Salazar hopes to see take center stage at the APEC meeting in Peru.
Chinese mainland and Taiwan are in communication on arrangements for a meeting between the two cross-Strait affairs chiefs , a mainland spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Fan Liqing, spokeswoman with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (SCTAO) , made the remarks at a regular press conference.
SCTAO head Zhang Zhijun and Wang Yu-chi, mainland affairs chief in Taiwan at the time , were originally scheduled to meet on Feb. 7-8 in Kinmen. The meeting was postponed as the two sides focused on the aftermath of a TransAsia Airways plane crash in Taiwan on Feb. 4, wh ere more than 40 people , including both Taiwanese and mainlanders, were killed.
Wang later resigned from his post after his former deputy's alleged involvement in confidential information leaks. The future meeting with Zhang will be conducted by his successor , Andrew Hsia.
At Wednesday's press conference, Fan said the negotiating bodies of the mainland and Taiwan-- the mainland-based Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) in Taiwan-- are also arranging the next round of talks between the two organizations' leaders , which is scheduled to be held on the mainland.
Fan also reiterated Taiwan personnel participation in mourning the passing of former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew needs to be handled in a proper manner with adherence to the one-China principle.
Fan made the remarks in response to inquiries about Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou's activities in Singapore.
Lee always upheld the one-China policy while he was alive and did a lot of work to improve relations across the Taiwan Strait, the spokeswoman said.
Are you feeling sick and tired of viewing your old Facebook profile? Well , you might like to consider adding Facebook backgrounds within your profile to give it a brand new and eye-catching look. There are various Facebook backgrounds that you may select to transform your.