It is my pleasure to welcome you to Victoria, to the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting of 1997. Your meeting Chairman, Mr. Edwards, has outlined for me the ambitious work plan for 1997. I can see that you have a demanding schedule ahead of you for the next couple of days. I wish you every success in these endeavours. APEC [Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum] has accomplished much in recent years, and Canada is anxious to continue this impressive momentum.

But, while I hope that your work is productive, I also encourage you to take advantage of any free time you may have to see this beautiful city. While the weather may be colder here than in many of your capitals, I hope that you will find our reception warm. I can assure you that Victoria is more comfortable than almost any other city in Canada at this time of year. Victoria has a reputation among Canadians as a place of peace and tranquillity, and I expect that it will provide a good backdrop for creativity as you set directions for APEC in 1997.

Canada is honoured to chair APEC in 1997. We are proud to be a member of APEC, a forum that encompasses the world's most dynamic growth area. Canada's Pacific dimension has been evident in our excellent trade and bilateral relations in the area. My own government was elected on a platform that stressed the need to expand relations with the Asia Pacific and Latin America.

The province of British Columbia, where you are meeting now and where you will meet again in November, anchors Canada in the region, both in geography and in attitude. This is not a new development. We share with our Mexican and Chilean colleagues a history that begins with Spanish explorers such as Quadra and Juan de Fuca. Immigration from Asia since the turn of the century has turned our gaze westward. New arrivals from your economies bring with them a wealth of experience and new approaches to business that strengthen the fabric of Canadian society. I am pleased to note that in honour of our APEC chairmanship, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has declared 1997 as Canada's Year of Asia Pacific, or CYAP, as a celebration of our Pacific ties.

In recognition of the importance of the region to Canada as a whole, this government created my position, Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific), upon its election in 1993. In my travels to your economies and across Canada, I am continually impressed at just how much we have in common. This is, I believe, the essence of APEC -- 18 economies working together for mutual benefit from trade and economic co-operation, and from a social and human development perspective.

The Prime Minister himself has a special fondness for APEC. Just two weeks after taking office, he made his first official foreign trip to Seattle, to attend the first APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. What he has enjoyed the most about APEC is the informal, yet focussed, nature of discussions among leaders. I think that in looking back on APEC's rapid development -- from Blake Island to Bogor, and on to Osaka and Subic -- one can clearly see that the annual Leaders' Meeting has added momentum and political impetus to the process. APEC now faces the challenge of moving from visions and plans to implementation. It is clear to me that, as it does so, a key ingredient will continue to be the engagement of leaders.

Critics of APEC have played up the divergent viewpoints around the table, including the fact that its membership is diverse -- in cultural, economic and political terms. These factors, they say, have made it impossible for APEC to agree on a single compelling vision. We have all heard the line that "Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation" amounts to little more than "four adjectives in search of a noun."

I disagree. Canada's own history is marked by the need to draw strength from diversity. In uniting people from a wide range of linguistic, social, religious and cultural backgrounds, Canada has come to value the very same concepts that characterize APEC -- consultation over conflict and consensus building over coercion. Indeed, one of Canada's greatest prime ministers, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, built his considerable political success on developing what he called "the sunny way of consensus." In fact, I would propose that in the word "consensus," APEC has found both its missing noun and its central vision.

I have no doubt that you will succeed in building on APEC's past successes, moving further along the liberalization path, to continued prosperity in the region. Doing so requires a careful balancing of APEC's central trade and investment activities, and the priorities for economic and technical co-operation that support the trade agenda. Let us be mindful of the direction from leaders in Subic to concentrate economic and technical co-operation activities on six key areas that are crucial to continued growth: developing human capital; fostering safe, efficient capital markets; strengthening economic infrastructure; harnessing technologies of the future; promoting environmentally sustainable growth; and encouraging the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.

I encourage you to consider the following as objectives for 1997, again based on direction from ministers and leaders:

We must press for further measures in trade and investment liberalization. Leaders have directed that specific sectors be identified for focussed efforts in this regard. APEC's credibility is closely tied to its success in moving forward on liberalization, and there is a need to deliver results in this area to maintain the momentum. A key challenge is to establish a mechanism for comparability that will ensure continual improvements in the individual action plans. We also need to strengthen collective action plans, particularly in support of business facilitation. Trade ministers will meet in May to advance these issues, and to continue finding practical means of supporting the WTO [World Trade Organization] work program.

Growth cannot be maintained in the absence of a solid economic infrastructure -- for example, efficient transportation systems to move goods and people within and across borders, cost-effective and appropriate energy supplies, and environmentally appropriate technologies and production methods. Governments have a responsibility to help create the right conditions for economic prosperity, and to provide the proper framework for trade and investment liberalization measures to succeed. In this regard, stimulating private sector investment in infrastructure development has been identified by leaders as a priority for this year's work.

Seeking and acting on the advice of the private sector in setting policy directions is a long-standing priority for APEC. It is only by knowing the barriers to doing business that we as member economies can co-operate to break them down. The APEC Business Advisory Council has provided us with comprehensive and wide-ranging advice, and we must review each and every one of its recommendations over the coming year to reach consensus on implementation. APEC's credibility with the private sector is crucial. We must pay special attention to ensure that the views of small business operators are both heard and reflected in APEC's agenda. One way this can be done is through co-operation on trade facilitation measures that make it easier to do business. For example, lengthy customs procedures and uneven product and professional standards can be major impediments to the expansion of smaller firms into international markets.

Finally, we cannot take decisions about the shape of the region in the future without elaborating a vision of the future that reflects the needs and aspirations of our young people. In the end, we will be judged not by trade figures and growth rates, but by the condition in which we leave the world to future generations. Throughout the year, I would encourage each of you to think about how your decisions will affect the children and young people in your life.

In closing, I would like to leave you with a few words from APEC leaders, as a reminder of the importance of the task you are beginning today:

We express full confidence that the APEC process will produce substantial, concrete, measurable and sustainable results which will tangibly improve the lives of all our citizens by the turn of the century.

This is a tall order, and we are counting on senior officials to guide the APEC process to success. I look forward to hearing of your progress and to seeing you again in November.

Thank you.

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