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Conclusion

APEC member economies should be commended for the great strides that have been made since the first APEC Transport Ministerial in improving civil aviation safety in the region. However, the GEASA believes that it is critical that APEC Transport Ministers remain vigilant in ensuring that a high level of aviation safety in each APEC member economy is maintained and strengthened.

The public must have full confidence in the safety of the air services in all APEC economies. The public is entitled to the best practical level of air transportation safety. To that end, Civil Aviation Authorities must be restructured where appropriate to be independent and strong with adequate resources to assure safety, including enforcement. The public demands no less. It is practical to achieve this throughout the Asia Pacific because of its high level of sustained economic growth that makes more resources available. In addition, a significant amount of funds is normally made available, by donor economies and international funding agencies, for assistance in a variety of social and economic programs in developing economies. The challenge is for the donors and recipients to re-order their priorities in technical assistance programs to give a high priority to civil aviation safety activities. This is consistent with government policy in a number of APEC economies that give a high priority to public safety.

APEC Transport Ministers may wish to consider requesting that a mechanism be established to implement their decisions in order to prevent those decisions from languishing for want of attention.

Aeroplane
Date modified:
2010-06-22