APEC achieves progress with challenges ahead

Many obstacles, challenges ahead

On the obstacles to attaining the Bogor goal, Waller regarded as major obstacles some existing policy terms and concepts that some members still see themselves as separate sovereign economies, and consequent reluctance to readily open their markets to foreigners.

Some members are afraid that their economies will suffer and are less prepared to take the risk, so they continue to keep barriers rather than reduce them, that's the problem, the economist told Xinhua.

Waller said the developed economies accept that situation, saying there should be an understanding of transition, which usually comes with an agreement when someone reduces barriers, others also provide for compensation policies to help remove those barriers.

"There's a lot of evidence that if your object is to promote growth and employment, diversity and open economic structures will allow that to happen quicker and benefit will occur quickly," he said.

On the challenge facing the Asia-Pacific region, Waller said all economies need to get better quality of infrastructures, as more people come to the cities and cities are getting increasingly bigger.

"The economies have to work hard on how to accommodate the needs of city people as well as the rural people, but the challenges are increasing as people are drawing to urban areas for jobs and opportunities, we have to make these cities livable, that 's really the opinion of sustainable development," Waller said.