Australian Minister for Trade Warren Truss yesterday called for the continued structural reform efforts made by APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) economies to tackle investment barriers in the region.

Truss yesterday released a report titled Reducing Behind-the-Border Barriers to Investment, which was drafted by the Center for International Economics, based in Canberra, capital of Australia.

"Because most investment in (APEC) member economies is sourced domestically, the reduction of these behind-the-border barriers to investment offers considerable potential for economic growth," Truss said while releasing the report.

The report has found that restrictions to investment are greater in lower-income APEC economies than in the more prosperous ones and that domestic savings in the lower-income economies tend to be invested abroad despite ample investment needs and opportunities at home.

It identifies behind-the-border barriers to investment as encompassing domestic policies, rules, procedures and laws which may include excessive regulations, unclear property rights and poor legal systems.

Those barriers increase costs and risks and limit business competition leading to lower productivity and growth, according to the report.

It concludes that if investors in APEC economies faced fewer barriers, investment would be higher and of a better quality, economic growth would rise and the incidence of poverty across APEC would fall.

Truss said that the report informs APEC's growing work on investment and structural reform and the APEC ministers will discuss these issues at the APEC Ministerial Meeting, which is slated from Sept. 5 to 6.