these areas; and government has the principal task of raising the efficiency and transparency of customs operations. But policymakers will be assisted by the capital, competition, and technologies that come with liberalization of cross-border investment. 17 In addition to being key to the New Economy, these three service sectors— telecommunications, financial transactions and institutions, and distribution logistics—are at the heart of on-gong international services negotiations, as well as being covered by bilateral agreements.
There is much to do to move away from the il-liberal status-quo situation that is contained in the GATS schedules and APEC members should use their collected voice to push for a new Round that will negotiate both goods and services. 18 Competition policy and legal regimes: The rule of law and pro-competitive policies including appropriate and independent regulatory authorities, transparent and non-onerous business rules, flexible labor markets, and ease of entry and exit of firms, including through mergers and takeovers, are fundamental to creating the New Economy environment characterized by innovation, quality infrastructure, and hospitable business environment.
19 For key infrastructures, such as telecommunications and distribution and delivery, the research is quite clear on the importance of the private sector, independent regulation, and foreign participation in yielding a high-quality, fairly-priced, and technologically up-to-date infrastructure backbone. The New Economy puts a premium on this backbone, since the benefits of business efforts can be undercut by inefficient and costly infrastructures. The global nature of New Economy transactions means that domestic pro-competitive regulatory authorities can butt up against the jurisdiction of policymakers in another economy.
Realistically and rightly, different economies balance the interests of consumers and businesses differently when considering whether and how policymakers should intervene to affect market structure and conduct. APEC is a forum where policymakers can discuss these issues, bringing differences in views and approaches into the open. Doing so would move the international dialogue forward. 17 See Antonio Estache, “Privatization and Regulation of Transport Industries in the 1990s: Successes….and Bugs to Fix for the Next Mile,” Working Paper 2248, Washington: World Bank, November 1, 1999.
In addition, much of the work of APEC’s trade facilitation projects, paperless trading initiative, and customs standardization, as well as business travel card are directed as improving the logistics aspect of trade. 18 See Catherine L. Mann (2000), “Electronic Commerce in Developing Countries: Issues for Domestic Policy and WTO Negotiations,” IIE Working Paper 00-3 March. 19 For a full discussion, with a precursor to the New Economy, in Edward M. Graham and J. David Richardson eds. (1997), Global Competition Policy, Institute for International Economics: Washington DC.
For analysis more specific to developing economies, see Ian Alexander and Antonio Estache, “Infrastructure Restructuring and Regulation: Building a Base for Sustainable Growth,” Working Paper 2415, Washington: World Bank, August 1, 2000; and Mark Dutz and Aydin Hayri, “Does More Intense Competition Lead to Higher Growth?,” Working Paper 2320, Washington:World Bank, 2000. With regard to the role for mergers and takeovers, see in particular Bassanini, et al, OECD Economic Department, “Knowledge, Technology and Economic Growth: Recent Evidence from OECD Countries”, Brussels, May 2000. - 20-