India and APEC An Appraisal RIS ASEAN-India Research and Information System for Developing Countries Centre at RIS India and APEC: An Appraisal India and APEC: An Appraisal by V. S. Seshadri ASEAN-India Centre at RIS ASEAN-India Centre at RIS ISBN: 81-71299-108-4 Copyright © AIC, 2015 Published in 2015 by: ASEAN-India Centre at RIS ASEAN-India Centre at RIS Core IV-B, Fourth Floor, India Habitat Centre Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003, India Ph.: +91-11-24682177-80, Fax: +91-11-24682173-74 : E-mail: [email protected] Website www.ris.org.in, http://aic.ris.org.in Contents Foreword by Ambassador Shyam Saran ............................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................................................................................ix List of Abbreviations .....................................................................................................................................................xi Exe .................................................................................................................................................1 cutive Summary .............................................................................................................................9 .............................................................................................................................................9 India and APEC: An Appraisal .............................................................................................................................. 10 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 11 2. Evolution of APEC ............................................................ 12 3. APEC at 25 ............................................................................................................................. 13 4. Institutional and Organisational Structure of APEC .................................................................................................. 14 5. APEC’s Successes ..................................... 14 6. APEC’s Perceived Shortcomings .................................................................................................................. 7. How Relevant is APEC in the Changing International Context? ................................................................................................................... 28 8. Should India Join APEC? 15 ...................................................................................................... 29 9. Will India be Accepted? Annexures 10. Conclusion and Way Forward .................................................................................................................... 33 Annexure 1 : Structure of APEC ................................................................................. Annexure 2 : APEC Sectoral Ministerial Meetings ....................................... 3735 Annexure 3 : APEC Best Practices/Guidelines Sectoral ......................................................................... Best Practices 39 Annexure 4 : APEC Initiatives/Action ..................................................................................................................... Plans in Vogue 41 Annexure 5 : Key APEC Targets ............................................................................................................ 43 Annexure 6 : Various APEC Centers ............................................................................................... Annexure 7 : APEC ‘Pathfinder’ Initiatives 45 ........................................................... 47 Annexure 8 : Bogor Goals and Osaka Action Agenda: A Comparative Study of Laws and Practices in India and Select .................................................................................................... APEC Economies 79 Annexure 9 : APEC and Indian Customs ..............................................................................................................................101 Annexure 10 : APEC and Liberalisation of Trade on Environmental Goods: A Brief Note ....................................................................................................................... Annexure 11 : APEC and ITA-2 ............................................105111 Annexure 12 : India’s .................................................................................................................................................... Trade and Investment with APEC Economies 117 Endnotes.............. List of Tables and Figures Tables .........................................49 .............................................. Comparison of the MFN Applied Tariffs for India and APEC Members ........................................................................................................ Average MFN Applied Tariffs of Selected APEC Members and India 50 ......................................................................... Trade Deficit as Percentage of Exports 51 ................................................................. Profile of Specific Trade Concerns on SPS/TBT Issues 53 ............................. GP Regimes, Recent Improvements and Planned Changes 55 ..............................................................................................................................60 Number of Sub-sectors within Each Sector Committed under GATS and RO 59 ................................................................................. STRI for Selected Countries .....................................68 Investment Regimes in India and APEC Countries 65 .....................................................................71 FDI Regime in Selected Sectors in China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia .........................................................................................73 Ranking of Countries on investment-Related Indicators .....................................................................................................................74 Implementation of International IPR Treaties ............................................................................................................................... Patent Applications by IP Office ....................................................................................................................................81 Patent Granted by IP Office 75 .....................................................................................................86 SCFAP: The Chokepoints ................................................89 Overview of Increase in ICEGATE Usage ........91 Logistic Performance Index of Selected APEC Members and India .................94 Cost per Container and Number of Documents Requirement for Exports and Imports .....................................................................................................103 APEC Electronic Individual Action Plan on Trade Facilitation of Select Countries ...................................................................................................................108 India’s Trade in Environmental Goods ................................................................................................108 India’s Trade in ITA-1 Products .........................................................................................................111 India’s Applied Tariffs on ITA-2 Products ..................................................................................................112 APEC’s Global Trade and FDI Profile .........................................................................................113 India’s Exports and Imports from APEC ................................................................................................................114 India’s Trade with Sub-regions within APEC ..........................................................................................................114 India’s Services Exports to APEC ..................................................................................................................... India’s Services Imports from APEC ........................................................................................................................................116 India’s FDI Inflows from APEC 115 India’s OFDI to APEC List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................60 ..........................................................................90 STRI for Selected Countries Ranking of Selected APEC Countries and India: 2014 Foreword Ambassador Shyam Saran Chairman, RIS India is a member of several regional and sub-regional forums covering East and South East Asia as also of the larger East Asia Summit. It is, however, not part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum that was established twenty five years ago. This is even as India remains a gateway to the Asia-Pacific and has been a leading emerging economy in this region. As India continues to take strides in fostering accelerated economic development, India’s continued absence in APEC seems a void. India’s participation in APEC could help to further consolidate India’s quest to speed up growth and to also integrate closer with its neighbouring Asia-Pacific economies. It can also help India to