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Making it easier for businesses to deal with non-tariff barriers will contribute to economic expansion, said APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor, at the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade in Geneva on Monday.

The World Trade Organization (WTO), its members and key international aid and development organizations are conducting the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade from 18-19 July in Geneva. Aid for Trade is an initiative aimed at helping developing and least-developed countries to increase exports of goods and services, to integrate more effectively into the multilateral trading system and to benefit from liberalized trade and increased market access opportunities.

During a session on trade facilitation, Ambassador Noor offered an assessment of APEC's achievements since the launch of the initiative and offered lessons about the impact of APEC's work in the area.

"Preliminary estimates suggest that APEC's work on trade facilitation reduced business transaction costs within APEC by 5.2 percent in real terms during the 2007-2010 period – representing a net savings of around US$60 billion."

"APEC's Trade Facilitation Action Plans greatly contribute towards the realisation of free trade and investment in the Asia Pacific region," he said in a reference to the Bogor Goals.

He said that following the reduction in tariffs as a result of trade negotiations and unilateral liberalisation, non-tariff issues, including customs and other procedures, have become relatively more significant to the effort to promote trade.

"In recent years there has been a globalisation of the supply chain with multiple economies being involved in the production of many goods," explained Noor. "There is increasing need for trade facilitation efforts, more so on behalf of small and medium size businesses."

On average, APEC funds around 100 projects each year, to a total value of about US$8 million.

"For APEC, which operates under a voluntary framework, capacity building is even more critical to the implementation effort," Noor underscored.

In 2010, 18 percent of APEC's funding for capacity building was channeled to economic infrastructure; 38 percent went to APEC's trade-related capacity building including support for reforms in banking and financial services; and 44 percent went to improving trade policy and regulation.

APEC economies' total trade in goods and services increased five-fold between 1989 and 2010, from US$3.1 trillion to US$16.8 trillion and average tariffs in the region has fallen from 17 percent in 1989, to 6.2 percent in 2009.

Employment in APEC economies grew by 14 percent between 1996 and 2009 while poverty was reduced by 42 percent between 1994 and 2007, according to the APEC Policy Support Unit.

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For more information, contact: Ai Ghee Ong +65 6891 9671 at oag@apec.org or Michael Chapnick +65 6891 9670 at mc@apec.org

Details about APEC meetings, events, projects and publications can be found at www.apec.org or www.apec2011.gov. You can also follow APEC on Twitter and join us on Facebook.



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Niigata, Japan, 16 October 2010 - The 1st APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security opened on Saturday with acknowledgement that the region needs to increase agricultural production as the population grows. 

Other items on the agenda for the two-day meeting in Niigata include sustainable development; the impact of climate change on agricultural production; the outlook for food supply and demand in the Asia-Pacific region; and the role international organizations can take to secure the food supply. 
 
In his opening statement , Japan's Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Michihiko Kano, said food and agriculture are critical components to the human security agenda in the Asia-Pacific where half of the world's grain is produced yet one-quarter of the population remains undernourished. 

"The world's food demand will increase along with economic development," said Minister Kano. "In order to feed the hungry, it is estimated that world food production needs to increase by 70 percent." 

"The region faces serious problems that jeopardize agricultural production including climate change and water shortages. It is also vulnerable to natural disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. 

"Recent consequences of these disasters on agricultural production have begun to affect people's lives in the APEC region. Still fresh in people's memory are the high food prices in recent years which affect food security around the world. 

Accounting for 40 percent of world's population and half of global GDP, the APEC region includes major exporters and importers of agricultural projects and grain. 

During the first part of the plenary session, Ministers shared their views on how APEC economies will confront multiple challenges including the expansion of food supply capacity, growing populations and environmental challenges in the agricultural sector. They also discussed how each of their economies are addressing the synergy between rural development and food security. 

They also discussed on how APEC economies will work together to facilitate improved agricultural trade, maintain reliable markets, enhance the business environment and ensure food safety. Promoting responsible agricultural investment was regarded as an indispensable element of food security.

Ministers also heard presentations by multilateral organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, Asia Development Bank, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Food Program, the World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development. 

The outcomes of the 1st APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security will be conveyed to APEC Economic Leaders in November when they meet in Yokohama, Japan.



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Okinawa, Japan, 29 October, 2010 - APEC Ministers will focus on development of broadband infrastructure and advancing information and communications technology (ICT) in critical areas such as education, health, energy and the environment when they meet here this week. 

At the October 30-31 meeting, Ministers will also address ongoing efforts to develop free and open markets in the Asia-Pacific region for the telecommunications and information technology industries, including regulations that encourage increased competition and investment in APEC economies. 
 
Meeting under the theme "ICT as an Engine for New Socio-Economic Growth," Ministers will turn to initiatives aimed at developing and sharing best applications of ICT to address problems such as energy and resource constraints and environmental degradation, as well as enhancing the effectiveness of emergency preparedness in the region. 

"APEC is developing next broadband goals and initiatives aimed at using ICT to address social-economic challenges in areas such as the environment, emergency response, medicine, education and energy efficiency," said Yoshihiro Katayama, Japan's Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, who is chairing the meeting. 

Measures to strengthen cyber security, including effective policies to protect personal information and security of networks as well as efforts to protect vulnerable groups from online threats, will also be addressed by the Ministers. 

APEC Cyber Security Awareness Day will be held in conjunction with the meeting to highlight the importance of sharing information between member economies on this issue and collaborating on region-wide efforts to address cyber security. 

The meeting is expected to prove crucial to shaping APEC's long-term growth strategy which will be finalized for Economic Leaders at their annual meeting, to be held next month in Yokohama. The strategy includes promoting economic growth across the region through fostering innovation and a knowledge-based economy. 

Telecommunications and ICT have, throughout the years, revolutionised the way the region's citizens communicate, do business, interact with governments and educate and inform themselves. 

Internet broadband subscriptions have increased from .2 per 100 inhabitants in the region in 1999 to 10.8 in 2009. Similarly mobile phone subscriptions have rocketed from 10.5 in 1999 to 76.6 per 100 inhabitants in 2009, according to data from StatsAPEC, an extensive database showing economic performance in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Ministers are committed to achieving an ambitious goal, set in 2008, of universal access to broadband in the APEC region by 2015. APEC economies have achieved the goal of tripling internet access in the region, and largely achieved the goal of universal internet access by 2010 in terms of ICT infrastructure. 

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Niigata, Japan, 17 October 2010 - At the conclusion of the 1st APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security in Niigata, Japan, APEC ministers adopted the Niigata Declaration on APEC Food Security. 

Meeting for the first time here on Saturday and Sunday, APEC Ministers recognized the region's vulnerability to food price spikes, population increases, constraints on agricultural production and how these issues impact long-term food security. They stated that trade plays a key role in food security. Improved food security in the region would contribute to the attainment of APEC's human security goals and assist the implementation of the APEC Leaders' Growth Strategy.

APEC member economies agreed to collectively pursue shared goals of sustainable development of the agricultural sector and facilitation of investment, trade and markets 

Ministers agreed that cooperation is required in order to help adapt to, and mitigate, climate change and to enhance disaster preparedness in the agricultural sector to help the region achieve a stable supply of food for its people. They agreed on the following actions: 

Expanding food supply capacity

Enhancing disaster preparedness in agriculture

Developing rural communities

Confronting challenges in climate change and natural resource management


Ministers also agreed that food security cannot be achieved without stable, efficient and equitable distribution systems that can deliver food to the whole population. To accomplish the goal of facilitation of investment, trade and markets, Ministers agreed that APEC economies should cooperate to: 

Promote investment in agriculture

Facilitate trade in food and agricultural products

Strengthen confidence in agricultural markets

Improving agribusiness environment

Improve food safety practices


Ministers also endorsed an APEC Action Plan on Food Security, which identifies specific activities to be implemented by APEC economies to strengthen regional food security. 

With inputs from Food and Agriculture Organization, Asia Development Bank, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Food Program, the World Bank, the United Nations' High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis and the International Fund for Agricultural Development during the plenary session, Ministers recognized that meaningful consultation with relevant stakeholders is critical to making sustained progress towards our food security goals.

APEC Food Ministers will convey the outcomes of their meeting to APEC Leaders in November when they meet in Yokohama, Japan.

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Nago, Japan, 31 October, 2010 - At the end of a two-day meeting, APEC Ministers adopted a declaration to develop and promote information and communications technology (ICT) to improve quality of life in the Asia-Pacific region and enhance economic growth.

The Ministers focused on five areas for action for 2010-2015: to develop ICT to promote new growth, enhance socio-economic activities through the use of ICT, promote a safe and trusted ICT environment, promote regional economic integration and strengthen cooperation in the ICT sector.

Ministers acknowledged that the APEC goal, set in 2000, of universal access to the Internet by 2010 in the APEC region has largely been achieved, and reaffirmed a commitment to achieve universal access to broadband in the region by 2015.  

They also set a new goal of access to next generation high-speed broadband networks in the region by 2020, and agreed to encourage economies to develop and implement strategies to make ICT more accessible to people with special needs.

On addressing socio-economic challenges, Ministers agreed to:

Develop and promote ICT applications such as smart and resilient grids and sensor networks to enhance energy efficiency and provide other environmental benefits

Develop and promote best practices for using ICT to more efficiently deliver services online including e-Commerce, e-Health, e-Education, and e-Government

Improve information sharing and cooperation of networks and technologies to better respond to natural disasters

Cooperate to promote emerging services and technologies such as grid computing and cloud computing, which allows users to access software and stored data remotely via the Internet


Ministers encouraged economies to increase cooperation and collaboration to counter threats over the Internet and raise awareness of the need for strong cybersecurity. Ministers also encouraged economies to urgently enhance methods to protect children from online threats.

Addressing the meeting in Nago in Okinawa Prefecture, Ministers stressed the importance of strong information sharing and technology collaboration between APEC economies, as well as between APEC and other international organisations and the private sector. 

Ministers also endorsed a strategic action plan from APEC-s Telecommunications Working Group. The Okinawa Declaration will contribute to APEC-s new growth strategy which is expected to be finalized and adopted by Economic Leaders at their annual meeting, to be held in Yokohama, Japan in November.


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Kyoto, Japan, 6 November 2010 - APEC Finance Ministers agreed to contribute priorities for future growth at their meeting here on Saturday after exchanging views on current economic and financial developments and policy direction in the Asia-Pacific region.  

Issuing a declaration at the end of their meeting, Ministers emphasized the importance for APEC members to take policy measures to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth in the region. 

Ministers agreed to submit the "Kyoto Report on Growth Strategy and Finance" to APEC Economic Leaders for their consideration when they meet next week in Yokohama. The report identifies priorities for securing future growth, including rebalancing and strengthening of global demand, pursuing sound fiscal management, and enhancing finance to key sectors such as infrastructure, small and medium enterprises, households and green investment.

In their joint statement Ministers acknowledged that the global economy is recovering from the recent financial crisis, but uncertainty remains. While growth in the region is uneven across economies, They said financial reforms are proceeding and that APEC economies should continue to take steps to build a stronger and more resilient global financial system. They also said that they remain committed to maintaining open markets and fighting protectionism. 

In support of recent moves by the G20, Ministers agreed to strengthen multilateral cooperation to promote external sustainability and pursue the full range of policies conducive to reducing excessive imbalances and maintaining current account imbalances at sustainable levels.

Because of the weight of APEC economies and their role in the global economy, Ministers recognized that each member, whether a surplus or deficit economy, has to implement policy measures. Economies with current account deficits will need to take steps to boost domestic saving while those with current account surpluses need to reduce their reliance on external demand and undertake structural reforms that catalyze stronger domestic demand-led growth. 

Ministers also said that they will move towards more market-determined exchange rate systems that reflect underlying economic fundamentals and will refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies. 

They also said that they need to ensure appropriate financing for several key areas, including for infrastructure, to strengthen growth, enhance productivity, alleviate poverty and improve access to service delivery systems. Ministers said they will continue to support emerging APEC economies as they implement public-private partnership infrastructure projects, including through a new mentoring program to be launched next year. 

Addressing the needs of micro, small and medium-size enterprises, and households, Ministers launched an APEC Financial Inclusion Initiative to identify concrete actions that financial policy makers can take to expand the reach of financial services to those that need them.

Ministers committed to taking action to raise international regulatory standards to ensure a level playing field and avoid fragmentation of markets, protectionism and regulatory arbitrage while also recognizing the importance of creating more open and integrated financial markets in the region. 

International financial institutions, including the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank also addressed the meeting and provided analysis and economic forecasts for the region. 

The outcomes of the 17th APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting will be delivered to APEC Economic Leaders when they meet in Yokohama, Japan next weekend.

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Yokohama, November 8, 2010 - APEC senior officials have finalized recommendations for Ministers and Leaders on a new economic growth strategy, possible pathways to a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific and an assessment of progress on the Bogor Goals.

After two days of meetings, the officials from APEC's 21 member economies concluded discussions on the priorities to be presented to Ministers and Leaders this week on these key APEC initiatives developed during 2010.
 
The concluding Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) is part of a week of annual APEC meetings, held this year in the Japanese city of Yokohama, including the Ministerial Meeting, a gathering of trade and foreign ministers, the CEO Summit, the SME Summit and the Leaders' Meeting on the weekend.

APEC members, which account for 40 percent of the world's population, 44 percent of global trade, and 55 percent of world GDP, has been developing a growth strategy which sets a vision for future growth in the region amid the changing economic landscape. 

Against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis, APEC has developed the strategy which encourages improvement in the region's "quality of growth." The strategy aims to achieve balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth.

"By putting a multi-year growth strategy in place for the region, we will assure future generations of a sustainable path towards prosperity," SOM co-chair, Shigeru Nakamura, from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained.

Expanding APEC's agenda on structural reform was also agreed at the meeting to contribute to recovery from the global financial crisis through enhanced productivity, regional economic integration and balanced and inclusive economic growth.

A report on the assessment of progress by APEC economies towards the Bogor Goals was also discussed. Set in 1994, the Bogor Goals are a key commitment to realizing free and open trade and investment by 2010 for APEC?s five industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies. 

"Based on an initial review it seems that the economies under assessment have made progress towards an environment that encourages trade among APEC members," said SOM co-chair Hidehiko Nishiyama, from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Thirteen economies, the five industrialized and another eight who have volunteered for assessment ahead of 2020, have undergone a thorough assessment to measure their progress towards the goals. A report will be presented to Ministers and Leaders this week.

APEC has also been exploring possible pathways to a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific or FTAAP, which is part of APEC's agenda on greater regional economic integration to increase trade and investment and boost prosperity in the region.


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Yokohama, Japan, November 09, 2010 - APEC is working hard to foster closer cooperation and integration in the Asia-Pacific region so that growth and prosperity is shared by future generations, APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor, said on Tuesday.
 
Ambassador Noor said APEC is focused on three broad areas to boost economic growth across the region; trade and investment liberalization and facilitation; making it easier and cheaper to do business in the region; and increasing economic and technical cooperation between members.

Speaking at an APEC youth forum in the Japanese city of Yokohama, Ambassador Noor pointed to a 61 percent reduction in tariffs in the Asia-Pacific region since 1989, when APEC was formed, thanks in part to its ongoing work on trade liberalization.

Average applied tariffs have reduced from 16.9 percent in 1989 to 6.6 percent in 2008. APEC's activities have also contributed to a six-fold increase in APEC members' total trade in the same period. And, as a result, GDP per capita in the region has increased 47 percent.

"What this means for consumers and citizens are lower prices, greater choices, better standards of living, and, importantly, more employment," Ambassador Noor told youth leaders, university students and officials.

"For businesses, this translates to open markets, increased competition and innovation, and reduced production costs. And from a broader perspective, for economies, this means increased trade between members, economic development and regional integration.

"It is widely known that trade contributes to growth and creates employment; and jobs created in exporting industries tend to be better paying." 

Ambassador Noor was giving the keynote speech at the APEC Voices of the Future 2010, an annual event for youth leaders in APEC member economies that aims to provide a platform to engage with government and business on issues relevant to APEC. The event was held at Nissan headquarters in Yokohama and was organised to coincide with Leaders' Week. 

Given its membership and economic influence, APEC is an important entity on the world stage. It is a strategic vehicle for diplomatic and economic engagement between economies such as the US, China, Japan and Russia, and it plays an important role in advancing negotiations in other forums such as the WTO, the Ambassador told the forum.

"APEC's range and size also means that its core work can result in large-scale achievements and far-reaching benefits," he added. 

APEC members now account for 40 percent of the world's population, 44 percent of global trade and 54 percent of world GDP.

APEC is committed to the Bogor Goals set in 1994 of realizing free and open trade and investment in the region, which are a key to enhancing growth and prosperity. An assessment of member economies' progress towards these goals has been undertaken and will be presented to Leaders in Yokohama this week. 

Ambassador Noor said increasing technical cooperation is an important part of APEC's agenda, especially for the developing economies, to help secure the region's growth. Some 1,600 capacity building projects have been undertaken within APEC since 1993.

APEC is also focused on improving the ease of doing business in the region, from initiatives that simplify customs procedures to those that seek to harmonise standards and regulations. APEC's trade facilitation action plan led to a five percent reduction in business transaction costs in the region between 2002 and 2006. A second action plan looks set to achieve another five percent cut.

APEC is also working towards its goal of making it 25 percent cheaper, faster and easier to do business by 2015, with an action plan that helps in particular development of the region's small and medium enterprises.

In light of the global financial crisis, Japan, as host of APEC in 2010, is leading development of a new growth strategy that aims to sustain prosperity in the future in the region. The strategy, which is expected to be released by Leaders this week, focuses on five attributes of growth: balanced, sustainable, innovative, inclusive and secure. 

"Given the uncertainty surrounding the health of the global economy and persistent concerns related to climate change and energy and food security, APEC's focus has turned to considering how to sustain future economic growth," Ambassador Noor said.

"APEC's new vision points to a broadening of the APEC agenda, from trade and investment liberalisation, towards broader social and environmental objectives. 

"This means that rather than just promoting economic growth, APEC will be pursuing "higher quality growth" - namely growth that is sustainable and that will ensure prosperity for all in the long term. This new paradigm highlights APEC as a dynamic forum that responds to new challenges and global realities." 

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Business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region will urge APEC Economic Leaders to take decisive action towards creating a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) when they meet later this week.  

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) will ask APEC Leaders to reach a decision on the most effective pathways to delivering FTAAP, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or an Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) framework, including the ASEAN+3 and ASEAN+6. 

ABAC, comprised of business leaders from APEC's 21 economies, held its final meeting for the year, in the Japanese city of Yokohama, ahead of a dialogue with APEC Leaders on Saturday when they will highlight the priority issues for businesses in the region. 

"While much has been achieved to making the flow of trade and investments in the Asia-Pacific region more free and open since APEC began, the world has changed," ABAC Chair Gempachiro Aihara said. 

"The changing nature of modern Asia-Pacific regional supply and value chains require deeper market integration for business to continue to grow," he said.

"Responding to the changes that have taken place in the region requires a new APEC vision that seeks to further liberalize flows of goods, services, investment, technology and people by addressing not just border barriers but those behind-the-border as well. 

"We believe that FTAAP is the most practical way of achieving this. This is why we have asked and will continue to urge our Leaders to make decisive steps toward the realization of FTAAP."

In its letter and annual report to Leaders this year, ABAC stressed that making progress on the FTAAP is the best strategy for achieving regional growth that is balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure. It will also ensure APEC's continuing leadership and relevance in the global economy. 

To promote inclusive growth, ABAC is also calling for more action to further improve small, medium and micro enterprises' (SMMEs) access to finance, technology and other capacity building programs. Since SMMEs make up the majority of businesses in the region, their growth can enhance economic integration.

Looking ahead to Russia's chairing of APEC in 2012, ABAC resolved to express its strong support for Russian accession to the World Trade Organisation.

ABAC also expressed support for decisions taken at the G20 meeting of Finance Ministers last month in South Korea, to pursue structural reforms to boost and sustain global demand, foster job creation and increase potential growth.

"Regulators should strike a balance between the need for stronger capital requirements, and insuring capital and liquidity flow to businesses," ABAC said in a separate statement.

"ABAC further supports G20's initiatives to mitigate excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates, and to avoid protectionist measures. ABAC believes that excessive exchange-rate volatility is an impediment to an open multilateral trading system and the free flow of goods, services and capital. "

About ABAC

ABAC brings together up to three business leaders from each of the APEC economies. They are appointed by APEC Leaders to provide insight to the priorities and concerns of the business sector.

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Osamu Kamikawa, ABAC Executive Director 2010, Tel: (813) 3285 7516, Email: o.kamikawa@mitsui.com 
Mr. Antonio Basilio, ABAC Secretariat, Tel: (63 2) 845-4564, Email: abacsec@pfgc.ph 
Ms. Tran Bao Ngoc, APEC Secretariat, Tel: (65) 6891 9616, Email: tbn@apec.org



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Yokohama, Japan, November 11, 2010 - APEC's high-level committees released their annual reports on Thursday outlining their work throughout 2010, including on corporate governance and regional economic integration.

The reports from the three committees are now available for download on the APEC website after they were endorsed by Foreign and Trade Ministers at their annual meeting in Yokohama, Japan. Copies of the Economic Committee report are also available from the documentation desk at the International Media Centre.

In the EC's annual economic policy report, the group has focused on a key area of structural reform, corporate governance, considered critical to the integrity of corporations, financial institutions and markets. A reputation for reliable corporate governance is also a prerequisite for attracting foreign investment.

The EC report said APEC economies are making progress on strengthening corporate governance by protecting shareholders' rights, making boards of directors more effective and improving the enforcement of corporate governance rules.

Progress and challenges reported among APEC economies include:

Some economies have developed voluntary guidelines or codes of corporate governance, and companies are required to explain their degree of compliance with these guidelines or codes

Economies with a high concentration of large family-owned companies reported many issues related to corporate governance, including nonprofessional directors on boards

More than half of economies report having a directors' institute or association that promotes professional development through training

Ministers also endorsed a separate report from the EC that takes stock of progress in implementing the APEC agenda on structural reform as well as progress made by individual economies in pursuing structural reform. The report is also available for download on the APEC website.

The Committee on Trade and Investment's (CTI) report to ministershas focused this year on working to lower trade barriers, to allow businesses across the APEC region take better advantage of opportunities arising both from existing and potential integration and connection.

CTI initiatives range from enhancing collaboration among regulators so that business is able to meet differing standards and conformance requirements within the region, and therefore increase their flow of goods, to action plans to improve supply chain connections to reduce the time, costs and uncertainty of moving goods and services in the region.

The report from the Senior Officials' Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation focuses on efforts to build capacity between economies to enhance trade and investment as well as deepening ties between the committee and other multilateral organisations and also the private sector.



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Yokohama, Japan, 11 November, 2010 - APEC Trade and Foreign Ministers on Thursday recommended to Leaders to extend their commitment to a standstill on new trade and investment barriers until the end of 2013.

This, along with other commitments, are included in two statements, a joint ministerial statement and a stand alone statement on advancing the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda (DDA). They were adopted by Ministers from APEC's 21 member economies at the conclusion of their annual meeting held this year in Yokohama, Japan.

"Open markets are vital for growth and job creation, enabling strong and sustainable growth in this region," the DDA statement said.

"While world economy is on its way to recovery; however, there still remains a possibility of increasing protectionist measures in the future," it said.

Ministers "agreed to recommend to our leaders to re-extend their commitment on standstill made in 2008, to refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services imposing new export restrictions, or implementing WTO-inconsistent measures in all areas, including those that stimulate exports, until the end of 2013."

Leaders meeting in Lima in 2008 during the global financial crisis committed to refraining from raising new barriers to investments or to trade in goods and services, and recommitted again last year when they met in Singapore. Ministers also meeting in 2009 made the same commitment, to the end of 2010, "and beyond if necessary."

The 2010 statement also urged a successful conclusion to the WTO's Doha round of trade negotiations and stressed support for the multilateral trading system.

"A strong multilateral trading system is an essential source of economic growth, development, and stability. An ambitious and balanced conclusion of the DDA will provide a much-needed stimulus for the global economy," it said. 

"The delay in concluding the DDA negotiations is therefore a source of continuing concern. In this regard, we strongly reiterated the importance of translating our political commitment into concrete actions toward a final conclusion, delivering meaningful new trade opportunities in all areas as well as substantial reductions in trade distortions in light of the development dimension as mandated."

In the joint ministerial statement, Ministers acknowledged that they were meeting two years after the global financial crisis, and although the APEC region has been leading global economic growth, the crisis is not yet over.

The joint statement said economies now face challenges, in particular, "of addressing volatility, creating employment and reconsolidating finance, and continuing to keep a balance between recovery and the exit strategies of fiscal and monetary policies."

Ministers also endorsed a report on the assessment of economies' progress towards the self-imposed Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment. The report on the progress of 13 APEC economies will be delivered to APEC Leaders for their consideration.

Ministers also submitted APEC's new growth strategy to Leaders. Acknowledging that recovery from the global slowdown is still fragile and uneven, Ministers said the strategy is a long-term and comprehensive plan that aims to achieve balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth throughout the region.

"In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the global economic recovery remains weak. We believe it is time for us to share a growth strategy to sustain recovery and to lay the foundation for our future prosperity. APEC, as the world's leading growth center, is in a unique position to carry out such a task," the joint statement said.

An action plan to implement the strategy is also being drafted with a mechanism to review its progress, the statement said. Ministers also endorsed an extended strategy on structural reform, called "the APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform," acknowledging that this strategy will contribute to balanced and inclusive growth. 

Ministers underlined the importance of APEC's work on strengthening regional economic integration (REI) -- including exploring possible pathways to a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) -- and affirmed that taking concrete steps towards realizing an FTAAP is an important part of the REI agenda.

Ministers also welcomed APEC initiatives in specific sectors including enhancing regional food security and energy security, empowering women, development of human resources, development of tourism, supporting small and medium businesses, protecting and managing marine resources and development of information and communication technology.



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Yokohama, Japan, November 14, 2010 – APEC Leaders gathered under the theme "Change and Action" to "articulate our vision of further building and integrating the Asia-Pacific region in the 21st Century, and paths to realize that vision."

At the conclusion of their two-day meeting, APEC Leaders adopted a declaration as well as a Leaders' Statement on 2010 Bogor Goals Assessment, the Report on APEC's 2010 Economies' Progress Towards the Bogor Goals, the APEC Leaders' Growth Strategy and Pathways to FTAAP.

Significant progress towards the Bogor Goals

"Through our individual and collective efforts toward achieving the Bogor Goals, the Asia-Pacific region has achieved substantial reductions in barriers to trade and investment. These efforts have led to increased trade and investment flows, sustained economic growth, and a vast improvement in the welfare of people in the region."  

"We are confident that APEC is well on track toward achieving the goal of free and open trade and investment among its economies."

The assessment was conducted on progress towards achieving the Bogor Goals by the five industrialized economies by 2010 as well as eight developing economies, who volunteered ahead of 2020.

"We endorse the Report on APEC's 2010 Economies' Progress Towards the Bogor Goals and conclude that while more work remains to be done, these 13 economies have made significant progress toward achieving the Bogor Goals."

Path toward a robust economy


"We set forth the APEC Leaders' Growth Strategy as APEC's first substantial effort to provide a comprehensive long-term framework for promoting high-quality growth in the region."

"We will implement the Growth Strategy out to 2015, focusing on the five desired attributes of balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative, and secure growth.

"Our Growth Strategy includes an Action Plan that encompasses work elements on structural reform; human resource and entrepreneurship development; green growth; a knowledge-based economy; and human security."

"The Action Plan will be supported and promoted through specific work programs that draw in all aspects of APEC's work, including sectoral Ministerial meetings, committees, APEC sub-fora, extensive regional networks of experts, and APEC's close cooperation with the business community."

"We will review our progress toward implementing the Growth Strategy in 2015."

Accelerating regional economic integration

 

"We will take concrete steps toward realization of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), which is a major instrument to further APEC's regional economic integration agenda. An FTAAP should be pursued as a comprehensive free trade agreement by developing and building on ongoing regional undertakings, such as the ASEAN+3, ASEAN+6, and the Trans Pacific Partnership among others."

"To this end, APEC will make an important and meaningful contribution as an incubator of an FTAAP by providing leadership and intellectual input into the process of its development, and by playing a critical role in defining, shaping, and addressing the "next generation" trade and investment issues that FTAAP should contain."

"APEC should contribute to the pursuit of an FTAAP by continuing and further developing its work on sectoral initiatives in such areas as investment; services; e-commerce, rules of origin; standards and conformance; trade facilitation; and environmental goods and services."

Balanced growth  

 

"We must take steps to build a foundation for stronger, more sustainable, and more balanced growth in the future."

"We note the importance of strengthening multilateral cooperation to promote external sustainability and pursuing the full range of policies conducive to reducing excessive imbalances and maintaining current account imbalances at sustainable levels."

"We will move toward more market-determined exchange rate systems and enhance exchange rate flexibility to reflect underlying economic fundamentals and will refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies. Advanced economies, including those with reserve currencies, will be vigilant against excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates. These actions will help mitigate the risk of excessive volatility in capital flows facing some emerging market economies."

Supporting the multilateral trading system

 

"We should continue to take steps to build a stronger and more resilient global financial system. We remain committed to maintaining open markets and fighting protectionism. We reaffirm our common resolve to support the recovery in a collaborative and coordinated way."

"We reaffirm our strong commitment to bring the Doha Development Agenda to a prompt and successful conclusion. Bearing in mind that 2011 will be a critically important "window of opportunity," we direct our Ministers to empower our representatives to engage in comprehensive negotiations with a sense of urgency in the end game, built on the progress achieved, including with regard to modalities, consistent with the Doha mandate."

"We affirm our commitment to win domestic support in our respective systems for a strong agreement."

Resisting protectionism

 

"In our continued efforts to resist protectionism, we agree to extend our commitment on standstill made in 2008 to the end of 2013 to refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing World Trade Organisation inconsistent measures in all areas, including those that stimulate exports."



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Issued by the APEC Informal Senior Officials' Meeting

Aiming to increase economic engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States highlighted its priorities when its hosts APEC in 2011.

The announcement was made during an informal preparatory meeting of APEC Senior Officials in Honolulu, where President Obama will host APEC leaders in November 2011.

The United States emphasized the importance of accelerating growth and creating jobs across the region by addressing specific concerns for improving the trade and investment environment.

As APEC host in 2011, the United States will prioritize concrete initiatives that build a "seamless regional economy" by achieving outcomes in specific priority areas, including:

strengthening regional economic integration and expanding trade;

promoting green growth; and

expanding regulatory cooperation and advancing regulatory convergence.

At the meeting convened at the historic East-West Center in Honolulu, US Senior Official Kurt Tong and his team proposed several policy areas for APEC officials to focus on in 2011. In addition to discussing how to organize the meetings for results-oriented outcomes, the United States explained that it will work with its partners to ensure the organization and its leaders remain relevant and accountable.

"In 2011, APEC is tasked with strengthening economic integration by working to define, shape, and address the next generation trade and investment issues that should be included in 21st century trade agreements in the region, including a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP)," said Tong. "This will contribute to eliminating non-tariff barriers to trade and preventing new barriers from emerging." The U.S. official also suggested that "APEC should adopt policies and regulations that foster innovation and promote the use of information and communication technologies, and advance structural reform objectives in APEC economies."

"APEC has pledged to work to promote green growth and help our economies make a successful transition to a clean energy future. The United States aims to advance APEC's work to address barriers to trade in environmental goods, including non-tariff measures related to advanced technology demonstration products, such as vehicles, as well as remanufactured and recycled goods," Tong added.

"Addressing barriers related to technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment requirements is essential to lowering the costs of doing business and strengthening regional economic integration," Tong concluded.

The United States also announced that Michael Froman, President Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, will chair the formal APEC senior officials' meetings during the U.S. host year.

APEC officials will meet throughout the year in the United States. They will converge in Washington, D.C. for their first meeting in March and again in Big Sky, Montana in May. Their final preparatory meeting will take place in San Francisco in September. Finally, the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held in Honolulu in November 2011.

For more information, contact:

Trudy Harris at th@apec.org or +65 9898 3710 (in Singapore) 
Michael Chapnick at mc@apec.org or (+65) 9647 4847 (in Honolulu)



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APEC has updated its investment guide for the Asia-Pacific region, which aims to improve transparency of investment policies and regulations and to enhance cross-border investment, fundamental to strong economic growth.

Developed by the APEC Investment Experts' Group, the "Guide to Investment Regimes of APEC Member Economies" is available for download from the APEC website.

The guidebook, now in its seventh edition, is an authoritative resource for existing and potential investors in the region, providing clear and relevant information about policies, regulatory considerations and statutory requirements that effect investment in each economy.

The guide aims to deepen business understanding of individual economies' investment climates and to enable government officials to compare investment frameworks in the region to further liberalise their own investment regimes and promote business friendly policies.

Information was sought from APEC members about their investment regimes, with 16 economies answering a standard set of questions for the guide. The questionnaires themselves were completely updated for this edition, to more directly address the interests and needs of guide users.

The online guide covers regulation of foreign investment, (including the process for investment and any conditions of investment), investment protection (including property rights, dispute settlement and flow of funds), treatment of foreign nationals or personnel of foreign firms as well as taxation. It also includes key contact information and web links in each of the economies.



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Leading Asia-Pacific business executives want progress on 'faster, easier and less expensive trade'

As negotiations on a potential pathway for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific get underway in Santiago this week, business leaders and top executives from a wide range of companies in the region called today in Guangzhou on APEC to make trade and investment in the region easier and more efficient.

"Together the 21 economies of APEC represent a fast growing, dynamic and diverse region.   We represent businesses of all sizes from every industry serving billions of consumers," said Deb Henretta, Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and Group President, Asia, Procter & Gamble.  "Our work this year will focus on the development of concrete building blocks for possible pathways toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific that will stimulate economic growth and prosperity across the Asia-Pacific region."

ABAC is helping to grow this market and facilitate trade in the region through its interaction with the APEC forum which is being hosted by the United States this year.  ABAC launched the 2011 campaign under a theme of "21 economies for 21st century prosperity" in the first of its four meetings in Guangzhou, China from February 14-17.

At the meeting, the group identified five key priorities for the year, including promoting regional economic integration, creating an environment where small and medium enterprises can prosper, and fostering sustainable growth by increasing food and energy security.

As part of food security, the ABAC members agreed to seek ways to decrease the estimated 40% loss which occurs in the region's food supply chain, a loss which has contributed to recent increases in the price of some staples. ABAC members also agreed to boost efforts to enable the finance sector to support growth in the region by increasing effectiveness and efficiencies in financial markets and capacity building.

ABAC members are committed to seeing tangible results by the end of this year, as well as significant progress towards "21st century prosperity" which will be achieved through balanced, innovative, inclusive, sustainable and secure growth in the region.  ABAC members believe that the greater the stake that the 21 member economies have in each other's prosperity; the greater the motivation will be for leaders to develop policies that will facilitate trade as a key driver of economic growth.

About ABAC

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was created by the APEC Economic Leaders in November 1995 to provide advice on the implementation of the Osaka Action Agenda and on other specific business sector priorities, and to respond when the various APEC fora request information about business-related issues or to provide the business perspective on specific areas of cooperation.

ABAC comprises of up to three members of the private sector from each economy. ABAC members are appointed by their respective Leaders, and represent a range of business sectors, including small and medium enterprises. The economy determines the term of membership of each appointee as well as its own administrative arrangements and staff support.





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Introducing more competition in the energy, telecommunications and transport sectors of the APEC region will generate USD 175 billion a year in additional income, new analysis shows.

The calculations are contained in a new report released by APEC's research arm, the Policy Support Unit, and underline the need for ongoing structural reforms, including of competition policy, to increase the potential for strong, long-term economic growth in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The report includes 14 case studies of structural reform undertaken in the APEC region in these three sectors and the subsequent impact on their economies in terms of lower costs, increased competition and improved efficiency and productivity.

It includes reform of electricity sectors in Russia and Korea, natural gas in China. maritime transport in Australia, rail transport in New Zealand and Chile, road transport in Thailand, aviation in Korea and telecommunications in Chinese Taipei and Viet Nam.

The report says a package of further such reforms in the three sectors would generate USD 175 billion a year in additional real income (in 2004 dollars) across the whole APEC region. APEC-wide, the projected gains from these structural reforms are almost twice as big as the gains from further liberalization of merchandise trade, the report concludes. However, the sectors where the structural reforms are targeted are less than one quarter of the size of those engaged in merchandise trade.

These additional reforms could lead to weighted average productivity improvements in the range of 2-14 percent across the three sectors in the APEC region, it says.

The report shows the benefits for consumers and small and medium sized enterprises arising from introducing competition in terms of improved quality of service, greater choice and lower costs. Removing barriers to open markets involves introduces competition, encourages companies to become more productive and innovative, and potentially leads to better economic growth.

Another benefit of structural reform is economic resilience and stability, meaning economies in the region can become less vulnerable to shocks and turbulence in global markets, the report further says. More efficient, flexible and productive economies could be better protected against a future global financial crisis.

"Structural reform is crucial to achieving growth and to providing greater flexibility and resilience with which to deal with and withstand shocks, both internal and external," said APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor.

"This report underlines the importance of APEC's agenda on addressing 'behind the border' barriers to trade and investment," he said.

Over the last five years, APEC has been promoting the importance of structural reform with initiatives in five key areas: regulatory reform, competition policy, corporate governance, public sector governance and strengthening economic and legal infrastructures.

Building on the success of this agenda, APEC Leaders meeting in Yokohama in Japan last November endorsed the APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform going forward, stressing the importance of structural reform to promote more open, well functioning, transparent and competitive markets, among others.

The report says structural reform is challenging "because it takes time amid the economic and political complexities in all economies." It requires steady adaptation for a specific purpose and outcome. With APEC economies at various stages of reform, continuing to share experiences is valuable so that economies can examine measures and strategies and then shape and adapt them to their own situation.

"It (reform) requires changes in economic structures, innovation and the adoption of new technologies and market responses to shape effective regulation as well as transform APEC economies and their current regulatory systems," it says.




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APEC is playing a vital supportive role in advancing regional trade negotiations, APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor said this week.

APEC is working to define, shape and address the next generation of trade and investment issues that potential high-quality trade agreements such as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) will contain, Ambassador Noor told the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

"The APEC Leaders have assigned us a very clear role as an intellectual forum for an exchange of views on what we call the 21st century trade and investment issues," he said during his visit.

"And that is very supportive of the Trans Pacific Partnership because the aim of the participants of the TPP is to achieve a high-quality agreement addressing such issues."

"We will act as incubator for some of those ideas and in that way we contribute to the negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership, an agreement which on the other hand will contribute to our objective of achieving a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific."

Ambassador Noor was asked about APEC's relationship to the TPP during an interview with Ernest Bower, a CSIS senior adviser and director of its South-East Asia program. A video of the entire interview can be downloaded here:

Nine APEC members are currently negotiating the TPP. APEC Leaders stated last year that the TPP is one possible building block, along with other regional undertakings, to achieving a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, part of APEC's regional economic integration agenda.

Ambassador Noor also discussed the priorities for APEC this year, which is being hosted by the United States. APEC is focused on achieving concrete and practical results in strengthening regional economic integration and expanding trade, promoting green growth and expanding regulatory cooperation and advancing regulatory convergence.

APEC senior officials are meeting in Washington to discuss the priorities and set the agenda for the coming year. APEC's many working groups have also been meeting in Washington to advance their work on trade and investment issues.



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Increased economic integration and long-term cooperation are vital for achieving greater prosperity for the Asia-Pacific, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she outlined the US strategy for economic engagement in the region.

Secretary Clinton was delivering opening remarks on Wednesday to the first meeting of APEC senior officials for 2011, which runs until March 12. The United States is hosting APEC this year with a focus on achieving practical and concrete achievements in advancing free trade and investment and strengthening economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region.

The full remarks on video can be viewed here.

Describing the US priorities for APEC USA 2011, Secretary Clinton addressed the importance of creating jobs, addressing the social and environmental consequences of growth, and laying the groundwork for long-term prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

"For businesses to make inroads into new markets and for citizens to find jobs, we must better align our standards applying to everything from manufactured goods to buildings," Secretary Clinton said. "We must improve the quality of our regulations to ensure that they are not unnecessarily burdensome."

Building on the vision to promote stronger and deeper regional economic integration by advancing common trade and investment interests, Secretary Clinton said that APEC should help member economies achieve a 21st century economic agenda.

"So all of us need to be working on several levels at once – creating jobs, increasing trade and investment, fueling innovation, investing in education, and pursuing inclusive growth that pays off across populations.

"In 2011, we want APEC to help define, shape, and address next generation trade and investment issues, and to take steps to help reduce the time, cost, and uncertainty of moving goods through regional supply chains.

"We want to work through APEC to find ways to achieve environmentally sustainable growth by reducing barriers to trade in environmental goods and services, stopping illegal logging, eliminating inefficient fuel subsidies, and facilitating trade in remanufactured products to reduce waste and save energy.

"We want to work with APEC economies to strengthen the implementation of good regulatory practices to prevent technical barriers to trade, to increase regulatory cooperation particularly as it relates to emerging technologies."

Secretary Clinton also told officials that the US wants APEC to help combat poverty through trade and work to prevent destabilizing spikes in international food prices by discouraging economies in the region from imposing export restrictions on food. 

Details about APEC meetings, events, projects and publications can be found at www.apec.org or www.apec2011.gov. You can also follow APEC on Twitter and join us on Facebook.



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Russia has donated USD 3 million to APEC activities to support human security and development of science and technology in the Asia-Pacific region.

Half of the money will be spent on APEC projects in 2011-2012 that enhance human security, which is essential to economic stability, growth and prosperity.

APEC has long been working in the region to enable economies, businesses and individuals better prepare for, respond to, and quickly recover from trans-boundary threats and devastation caused by terrorism, pandemics, natural disasters and contamination of food supplies.

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Ambassador Gennady Ovechko, Russia's Senior Official for APEC (left) and Ambassador Muhamad Noor, APEC Secretariat Executive Director

The remaining USD 1.5 million will be used to support capacity building projects in developing member economies to enhance science and technology. APEC is helping economies increase their access to, and knowledge and application of industrial science and technology, recognizing that it is a key to further building a dynamic and prosperous region.

Enhancing human security and developing science and technology complement APEC's new Growth Strategy. APEC Leaders set forth the strategy at their 2010 meeting in Yokohama in Japan in November and count secure and innovative economic growth as key components.

Russia and the APEC Secretariat this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the contribution on the sidelines of the first APEC Senior Officials' meeting for 2011 being held in Washington, D.C. Officials are discussing the priorities for the year ahead and agenda for achieving practical results.

Ambassador-at-Large Gennady Ovechko said that various APEC capacity building projects, in which the Russian Federation has been actively involved, assisted member economies to improve management and counter evolving threats and emergencies.

"We note with satisfaction that significant progress has been achieved in enhancing APEC economies' resilience to human security threats," said Ambassador Ovechko, Russia's APEC Senior Official. "However, much more has yet to be done and we need to intensify our joint efforts to increase the region's preparedness for natural disasters and other risks of devastating human and economic costs.

"We believe that Russia's contribution to ASF will help give new impetus to APEC's collective efforts towards achieving concrete and practical results in the way of implementing capacity-building projects."

APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor, expressed appreciation for the contribution.

"I thank Russia for the generous contribution to the APEC Support Fund. APEC will use the donation to carry out its growing work program, which is assisting economies in this very important area of human security," said Ambassador Noor.

Russia takes the mantle from the United States as host of APEC in 2012.



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The US wants to build towards the goal of a "seamless regional economy" that produces economic growth, employment and prosperity across the Asia-Pacific region," said senior White House official Michael Froman in his capacity as Chair of the 2011 APEC Senior Officials' Meetings.

Mr Froman is also the Deputy Assistant to US President Barack Obama and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs.

Mr Froman opened the meeting with an expression of condolence and solidarity to Japan on behalf of the United States and all APEC economies, in light of the tragic March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Against that backdrop, Senior Officials pledged to redouble APEC's efforts in disaster preparedness and recovery.

APEC senior officials are holding their first meeting during the United States' host year in Washington, D.C. on Friday and Saturday to discuss priorities for 2011. Specifically, they are looking to identify practical and concrete initiatives in 2011 to: 1) Strengthen regional economic integration and expand trade, 2) Promote green growth; and 3) Advance regulatory convergence and cooperation. 

"The United States sees 2011 as an important year to reaffirm and strengthen our ongoing commitment to the Asia-Pacific – in particular, our economic engagement with economies throughout the region," said Mr Froman.  "We see our participation in and hosting of APEC as vital to this effort."

In addition, the US is advancing ways to streamline and strengthen the way APEC does business by focusing on solving problems and achieving clear, meaningful progress toward APEC goals with input from the private sector.

"Throughout 2011, we plan to hold multiple private sector-led activities on topics ranging from energy and transportation to innovation and trade, food security, and women's entrepreneurship that will allow APEC officials to draw upon recommendations from industry and other stakeholders when developing initiatives and outcomes."

"These are all big issues that present real challenges to our economies and to the future of this organization.  If we are going to be successful in addressing them, we will all need to work together, to think outside the box, and to push ourselves to truly "get stuff done" in 2011," Mr Froman concluded.

The full text of the remarks and the audio can be viewed here.

A transcript of a media briefing by Mr Froman on the SOM1 meeting can be found here.

Details about APEC meetings, events, projects and publications can be found at www.apec.org or www.apec2011.gov. You can also follow APEC on Twitter and join us on Facebook.



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The APEC Secretariat expresses its deepest condolences and solidarity to the people and government of Japan, an APEC member economy, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck north-eastern Japan.

"Just two weeks after a tragic earthquake in New Zealand, we are shocked yet again by another earthquake, this time in Japan, and the consequent tsunami that touched several APEC member economies," APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor, said.

"Our hearts go out to all those affected by the tragedy, in particular the families of the victims and those who have been displaced as a result of the catastrophe," Ambassador Noor said in a letter to Japan's APEC Senior Officials.

"May I take this opportunity to wish you and your government courage and success as you continue with the immediate rescue and recovery operations, and with the re-building efforts that will follow."

Japan hosted APEC in 2010, and demonstrated strong leadership and determination to advance prosperity in the Asia-Pacific, including by leading development of a comprehensive, forward-looking economic growth strategy for the region.

APEC has a long-established record of enabling economies, businesses and individuals to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from threats and devastation caused by natural disasters, pandemics and terrorism.

Through capacity building activities, led by the Emergency Preparedness Working Group, APEC will continue to help its member economies rebuild and develop, including by building business and community resilience to disasters.

The Asia-Pacific region comprises 52% of the earth's surface area and experiences over 70% of the world's natural disasters.



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Bangkok, Thailand, 27 August 2010 - Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on August 24-27, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) expressed appreciation for APEC Leaders' efforts on financial regulatory reform and their instructions to regulators and policy makers to continue their dialogue with the private sector on this issue at the G20, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and other fora. ABAC reiterated its view that imposing financial taxes is counterproductive and contradict APEC's efforts to reduce transaction costs and to enhance regional financial integration. ABAC noted various important issues that remain to be discussed with policy makers and regulators, such as the capital buffer, pro-cyclicality, and incurred loss recognition, among others. ABAC also recognized that financial regulatory reform is necessary, and that global coordination as well as collective actions are important.

 

Various views expressed by ABAC in relation to financial regulatory reform include the following:

- Sufficient public-private dialogue should be maintained to ensure that new regulations do not harm financial intermediation and capital markets in the Asia-Pacific, which have remained relatively healthy after the crisis.

- Careful and prudent judgment should be exercised to determine the timing of introducing new regulations.

- An impact assessment should be undertaken to better understand the effects of new regulations.

 

- New regulations should not unfairly impose additional costs to industries and consumers as a whole.

ABAC welcomed the G20's announcement made this June in Toronto that the new capital framework for financial institutions will be phased in over a timeframe that is consistent with sustained recovery and limits market disruption. ABAC also welcomed the BCBS' recent decisions to consider private sector views in revisiting its definition of capital, and introduce phase-in arrangements for the leverage ratio.

 

ABAC members will discuss these recommendations during their dialogues with APEC finance ministers this coming November.



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Bangkok, Thailand, 27 August 2010 - Asia Pacific business leaders affirmed their belief that making progress on a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) presents the best strategy for achieving regional growth that is balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure. They called on APEC Leaders to make the necessary decisions on possible pathways to achieve a FTAAP.

The business leaders who comprise the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) were meeting in Bangkok to finalize their report to APEC Leaders and prepare for their dialogue in Yokohama, in November 2010. They expressed deep concern over new forms of protectionism arising from economic instability.

"The pursuit of the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment have created employment and social stability and helped reduce poverty in the region. It has become imperative for APEC to give renewed commitment to achieving deeper regional economic integration in view of economic uncertainty and the resulting protectionist pressures that threaten to reverse these gains" said ABAC Chair Gempachiro Aihara. "In our view, the FTAAP is the most practical means to achieve this."

ABAC has been advocating the concept of an FTAAP since 2004, and in 2006, APEC Leaders instructed APEC officials to examine various options for regional economic integration including an FTAAP. Since then, progress has been modest. With the Doha Round stalled and the global economy continuing to face uncertainty, the need for new impetus to regional economic integration to help economies solidify and sustain their recovery has never been greater, according to ABAC.

ABAC also concluded that accelerating the growth of SMEs and micro-enterprises through policies, which promote capacity building and financial inclusion, can enhance the quality of economic integration, considering that they make up the majority of businesses in the region. In addition, regional energy and food security need to be addressed to ensure that emerging supply and nutritional issues will not undermine APEC's growth.

ABAC also called for APEC to review the 1994 APEC Non-binding Investment Principles and to adopt its recommendations on how to make it more effective, particular in view of the changes in the way business is conducted in the region.

About ABAC

ABAC brings together up to three business leaders from each of the APEC's 21 economies. They provide APEC Leaders with information regarding priorities and concerns of business sector.

The third ABAC meeting was held from August 24-27 in Bangkok.



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Singapore, September 16, 2010 - APEC Tourism Ministers meet in Nara, Japan, next week to address issues such as the importance of achieving sustained and balanced growth in the tourism industry in the Asia-Pacific region following the global financial crisis.

The 6th APEC Tourism Ministers' Meeting to be held September 22-23 will discuss collaboration between APEC, the private sector and multilateral organizations to strengthen the industry, which is a major engine for growth in the region.

The industry was hit by the global financial crisis with households cutting back on travel plans and businesses reducing travel budgets. But long-term prospects for the industry remain strong.

Tourism and travel are expected to contribute 9.1 percent of total Gross Domestic Product in the APEC region in 2010, increasing to 9.7 percent in 2020, according to research by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

Tourism and travel are also expected to directly and indirectly employ 117 million people in the APEC region in 2010 and increase to 159 million by 2020 - or contribute 8.2 percent of total employment in 2010, increasing to 10.2 percent in 2020, according to the WTTC.

Ministers at the meeting are expected to address expansion of newer forms of tourism in the region, such as medical, sports and ecotourism, and the importance of preparations in the industry for a response to future emergencies, both man-made and natural. Other issues include meeting growing demand in the industry for a range of skilled workers.

Under the theme, "Tourism for Strategic Growth in the Asia-Pacific Region," the meeting will be chaired by Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Mr Seiji Maehara.

Ministers will provide an assessment of the tourism industry in their economy at the meeting, and will hear from international tourism organizations such as the APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism (AICST), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the WTTC.

Ministers will hold a press conference at the end of the meeting and release the "Nara Declaration on Tourism." The ministerial-level meeting will follow up on recommendations made by the APEC Tourism Working Group which meets in Nara on September 19-20.

A meeting of APEC Senior Officials will also take place in Sendai, Japan, from September 15-26. All meetings will provide valuable input to the work of developing APEC's Growth Strategy, which will be presented to APEC Leaders meeting in Yokohama, Japan in November this year.



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Singapore, 9 September, 2010 - Ministers responsible for Human Resources Development from APEC member economies will meet in Beijing next week to address issues such as unemployment and improving social safety nets to protect the vulnerable following the global financial crisis.

The 5th APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting will tackle the importance of achieving inclusive economic growth so that all sectors of society can share the benefits of free trade and investment and economic integration in the Asia Pacific region.

The meeting, to be held on September 16-17, will be chaired by China's Minister for Human Resources and Social Security, Yin Weimin, and will provide valuable input to the work of developing APEC's Growth Strategy, which will be presented to APEC Leaders meeting in Yokohama, Japan in November this year.

The Asia Pacific region is the world's engine of growth and many member economies are leading the recovery from the global financial crisis. But common concerns remain, including the need to foster job creation, improve social protection and enhance education and training. Many member economies also face long-term challenges such as ageing populations and demands for flexible and adaptable workforces.

During the two-day meeting, Minister Yin Weimin will give a key note speech at the Great Hall of the People. Ministers from member economies will also make presentations and they are expected to adopt and release a joint statement and action plan at the conclusion of the meeting.

The meeting will be attended by Ministers responsible for Human Resources Development, officials and support personnel. The ministerial will follow a meeting of APEC HRD Senior Officials in Beijing on September 15.



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Beijing, China, 17 September 2010 - At the conclusion of two days of talks, APEC Ministers Responsible for Human Resources Development released a joint statement on vigorously promoting employment and realizing inclusive growth.

 

In their statement, Ministers adopted the following recommendations for APEC Economic Leaders to guide the development of human resources development policies in their respective economies:

Devote priority attention to maintaining and expanding employment and adopt employment-oriented macroeconomic policies;

Improve social safety nets and reinforce social protection and employment assistance for vulnerable groups;

Enhance human capacity building and prepare the workforce to revitalize economic growth; and

Promote economic and technical cooperation in the field of human resources development among APEC economies.

The statement follows the meeting of Ministers in Beijing under the theme "Developing Human Resources, Vigorously Promoting Employment and Realizing Inclusive Growth."

 

APEC Ministers pledged to give more attention to employment intensive growth and called for consideration of policies which strengthen employability, productivity and labor force participation.

 

They also recognized the challenges facing member economies and the role that social safety nets play in stabilizing disruptions in the market and contributing to labor mobility and job creation.

 

Ministers pledged to pay particular attention to the needs of new labor entrants, vulnerable groups and the requirements of entrepreneurship training. Attention will be given to the demand for new skills. APEC economies will strengthen training programs to prepare the workforce for new jobs, particularly those opportunities presented by green growth.

 

Ministers agreed to carry out the Leaders' priorities to put job creation at the heart of its economic strategy and enhance cooperation to address the social implications of globalization and advance the APEC inclusive growth agenda by improved and innovative human resources development responses and policies.

 

Recognizing the role that human resources development plays in achieving inclusive growth, Ministers set the priority to create more and better jobs, improve social safety nets and enhance education and training.

 

Ministers recognized the importance of policy coordination and agreed to convene a Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting by 2014. They also agreed on the Action Plan and the APEC Skills Development Promotion Project as a blueprint for a multi-year program for the Human Resources Development Working Group.

 

Ministers' recommendations will be submitted to APEC Economic Leaders when they meet on November 13-14 in Yokohama, Japan.



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Beijing, China, 16 September 2010 - China's President Hu Jintao today called on APEC Ministers to develop better social safety nets as the region emerges from the global economic crisis.

President Hu made the comments when they convened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing during the opening of the 5th APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting.

During the session, President Hu announced the launch of a project, which will strive to enhance economic and technical cooperation among APEC economies.

"Practical and win-win cooperation is essential if we, APEC member economies, are to achieve common development. We should beef up economic and technical cooperation, advance regional trade and investment liberalization, and narrow the development gap among member economies to promote common prosperity."

"We should work more closely in employment, social security and other fields by promoting policy dialogue and experience sharing," he continued. "We should broaden our cooperation in human resources development, build platforms for technical cooperation, and raise our cooperation level with the focus on helping developing members in human resources development.

"To this end, China has decided to launch, together with other APEC member economies, the APEC Skills Development Promotion Project."

President Hu also discussed the importance of developing human resources in the APEC region, promoting employment and ensuring sustainable economic growth.

"To realize inclusive growth, to resolve the social issues emerging from economic development and to lay a solid social foundation for trade promotion, investment facilitation and long-term economic development are all major topics that we, the APEC member economies, need to work on together."

"The ultimate purpose of inclusive growth is to spread the benefits of economic globalization and economic development among all economies, regions and people and to realize balanced economic and social progress through sustainable development," said President Hu. "Our goal is greater productivity and prosperity and a better environment.

"Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region faces unprecedented opportunities of development. We, APEC members, should work together and make the best use of this APEC cooperation platform to deepen and broaden our cooperation. Hand in hand, let's move toward the objective of enduring peace and common prosperity for the benefit of people in the Asia-Pacific and the world at large," said President Hu when he concluded his remarks.

An APEC Growth Strategy is being formulated to shape the region's growth following the financial and economic crisis. It will be submitted to APEC Economic Leaders in November when they meet in Yokohama for their consideration.



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Beijing, China, 17 September 2010 - Addressing APEC Ministers on Thursday in Beijing, President Hu Jintao urged support for achieving inclusive growth which is vital to address the social dimensions of economic globalization and to facilitate free trade and investment.

President Hu made the comments when Ministers convened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing during the opening of the 5th APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting.

President Hu said that in an era of deepening economic globalization, economies and regions must strengthen exchanges and cooperation to address the underlying structural issues in economic development.

In his remarks, President Hu proposed that Ministers give priority to human resources development; implement a strategy of full employment; improve the quality and competence of workers; and build a social security system that ensures sustainable development.

"Human resources development holds the key to people's full participation in economic development and to improvement of conditions for their survival and development," he said. "It also provides the basis for sustainable economic development and inclusive growth."

He added: "We should make full employment our priority goal in economic and social development and implement the strategy of expanding employment to maximize employment and development opportunities for workers and ensure full employment for our people"

To improve the quality and competence of workers, President Hu explained that economic growth should be driven by scientific and technological advancement, improvement of workers' quality and innovation in management.

"We need to improve the quality of our workers to promote transformation of the economic growth pattern, economic restructuring and upgrading the harmonious growth between the economy and society."

Recognizing the need for a social security system that guarantees economic and social development,

President Hu suggested building a broad, basic, multi-tiered and sustainable system.

"We should better coordinate social insurance, social assistance and social welfare, and raise the level of social security steadily," he concluded.

In addition to his proposals to Ministers, President Hu also said that China has decided to launch, together with other APEC member economies, the APEC Skills Development Promotion Project This project answers the call of Economic Leaders to "develop a multi-year program to build capacity for structural reform and SME development, employment creation and the development of social safety nets. It also responds to the ongoing APEC efforts to work from multi-year plans.




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Beijing, China, 17 September 2010 - Facing unprecedented joblessness over the past two years, Ministers from APEC member economies convened on Thursday in Beijing to discuss how to address severe global employment challenges, which were brought about by the global financial crisis. Seeking innovative approaches to emerge from the crisis, APEC Ministers shared how their economies implemented inclusive measures to ensure high quality growth across the region.

During the plenary session, Ministers recognized the active role for social protection and emphasized the need to integrate measures to accelerate job creation and employment-oriented growth. Ministers also discussed recommendations to support policies that lead to flexible and responsive education and skills development.

China's Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, Mr. Yin Weimin, recognized that the recent economic crisis demonstrated how closely connected APEC economies are to each other. He said that the economies have reached a broad consensus on the need to promote economic transformation.

"We should stick to employment-oriented macroeconomic policies so as to achieve both economic recovery and growth and employment recovery and expansion," said Minister Yin at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning when he proposed various measures that APEC could take to strengthen cooperation to address challenges to the region's economic and social development.

"In order to promote employment, we should provide vocational skills training access to all workers, upgrade the quality and skill of workers so as to prepare the qualified labor force for economic growth and structure transformation," he explained. "Efforts should be made to improve the social security system, safeguard the rights and interests of workers, in particular the vulnerable group, and support their self-development and enhancement."

On Thursday afternoon, APEC member economies shared the policy measures they took during the crisis to avert a reversal of progress. They also shared insights and ideas for practical cooperation to help address human resource development issues in the region.

"Social stability through the reduction of poverty and the raising of living standards is essential to the continued development of the Asia-Pacific economies," said Japan's Senior Vice-Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ritsuo Hosokawa. "To achieve this, an income security-style safety net is needed to guard against the risks of unemployment and ill health and to prevent poverty." Japan is the host for APEC 2010.

"China is ready to join hands with other members to actively meet the challenge of the crisis, reinforce the existing achievements of cooperation, actively develop human resources, vigorously promote employment, improve the social security system, promote trade and investment liberalization and economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, and contribute to the realization of inclusive growth," said Minister Yin who chaired the meeting.

Member economies are expected to release a Joint Ministerial Statement on Friday after they conclude their meeting. The recommendations will be submitted to APEC Economic Leaders when they meet in Yokohama, Japan in November.



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Nara, Japan, 22 September, 2010 - Tourism Ministers from the Asia-Pacific region stressed the importance of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in this key industry, on the opening day of the 6th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting on Wednesday.

Opening the meeting, Japan's Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Sumio Mabuchi, said tourism, like the rest of the economy, had suffered from the global financial crisis, natural disasters and the H1N1 virus in recent years. 

However Minister Mabuchi, who is chairing the meeting, said tourism has potential to play a key role in the region's economic recovery. Steps, therefore, need to be taken by APEC to help nurture the industry so that it grows sustainably for future generations. 

"Although we see some signs of upturn in the economy starting from this year, we are still far away from a full-fledged recovery. So there are efforts being taken around the world to bring about growth," Minister Mabuchi told the meeting in his home town of Nara, Japan. 

"The tourism industry is an industry which can actually enable growth without resorting to fiscal stimulus. It is an industry that has the potential to impact on the revitalisation of the regional economy as well as on employment and therefore the sustainable growth of this industry is of paramount importance."

"Over the next two days in this ministerial meeting, I do hope that we can have very robust and active discussion and exchange of views and express and translate our strong resolve into the Nara Declaration, so that we can jointly take one step forward."

APEC's share of world tourism has been growing over the past 15 years, according to StatsAPEC, an extensive database showing economic performance in the Asia-Pacific region. APEC's share of world tourism has increased from 28 percent in 1995 to currently 51 percent. International tourism arrivals in the APEC region have grown approximately 122 million over this period.

During the plenary session, Ministers discussed the important role that the sector can play in contributing to APEC's new growth strategy, which will be submitted to APEC Leaders for consideration when they meet in November in Yokohama. 

In particular, Ministers discussed the need for protection of the region's natural and cultural assets to create a more environmentally sustainable sector. Creating more stable workforces in the sector and enabling tourism to generate business opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises would also lead to more inclusive growth of the sector that benefits more sections of society. 

Among other topics discussed was the importance of sharing information and ideas between member economies to strengthen the industry, and closer cooperation between APEC fora, the private sector and other international organisations to help achieve APEC's goals.

Ministers provided an assessment of the tourism industry in their economies, and also received a report on the results of the APEC Tourism Working Group. The meeting will continue on Thursday before Ministers are expected to release the "Nara Declaration" on Tourism and hold a press conference.

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Sendai, Japan, 20 September, 2010 - Businesses, academics and APEC officials gathered on Monday to finalise action plans aimed at improving supply chain connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region, crucial to boosting economic growth and speeding up regional economic integration. 

APEC has been developing the action plans after working with business and government sectors last year to identify eight critical chokepoints in the supply chain, relating to regulatory impediments, customs inefficiencies and inadequate transport networks and infrastructure.

The action plans are part of efforts to achieve multi-modal connectivity by air, land and sea, and to facilitate a seamless flow of goods, services and people throughout the Asia Pacific. This is part of APEC's priority to speed up regional economic integration.

Improving overall multi-modal performance would increase intra- and extra- regional trade by up to $500 billion annually, research by APEC's Policy Support Unit shows. Although individual transport modes are important, making them work through an efficient logistics system is vital.

"Seamless connectivity is very important to increasing economic growth and forging an interconnected region," Elizabeth Chelliah, the Chair of APEC's Committee on Trade and Investment, told the experts gathered in Sendai, Japan.

"We will identify how to implement the ideas set out in the action plans and how to identify and measure the positive progress made in eradicating and eliminating these impediments to trade," Ms Chelliah said.

Business and academics told the symposium, being held over two days, that disruptions to supply chain connections such as breakdowns in transport networks and unexpected changes in regulations and customs procedures lead to shipments of goods being slowed, stopped or turned around.

Paul Gray, vice president of logistics at MDS Nordion which makes medical isotopes and sterilization products, said the regulatory environment in which it operates was necessary and stringent given the radioactive nature of many of the products being shipped. 

Timing in delivery of these critical products was crucial. Hence, any disruption to the supply chain "not only adversely effects our business, but more importantly it can have a significant adverse effect on those patients who are waiting for the product for diagnosis or treatment of a life threatening disease."

The chair of APEC's Business Advisory Council, Gempachiro Aihara, said ABAC would continue to cooperate with APEC on the issue "since a strong, smooth and improved supply chain in the flow of goods and services across borders in the region is definitely in the interests of business."

As well as making it easier to trade across borders, improving connectivity will contribute to a more efficient supply chain, greater productivity and employment and increased personal mobility. This plays a role in achieving APEC's new vision of balanced, inclusive, sustainable and knowledge-based growth.

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Nara, Japan, 23 September, 2010 - At the conclusion of their meeting on Thursday, APEC Tourism Ministers adopted the Nara Declaration to support sustainable, inclusive and balanced economic growth of the industry in the Asia-Pacific region.
 
After two days of talks in Nara, Japan, Ministers recognised the "economic importance of tourism, including the creation of jobs, reduction of poverty and conservation of the environment" and stressed their determination to continue to strengthen the industry to help develop the region.

"During this period of significant change in the global political and economic order, tourism will continue to play an important and relevant role in the Asia-Pacific region," the declaration said.

Ministers agreed on the importance of protecting the cultural, natural and heritage assets of member economies by encouraging visitor flows more evenly, and to provide more stable employment in the industry. 

"This approach could enable tourism to grow in a sustainable, balanced and inclusive manner," the declaration said. 

The declaration will contribute to APEC's new growth strategy. The strategy is a commitment to produce "high-quality" growth in the region in the wake of the global financial crisis, and will be submitted to APEC Leaders for consideration when they meet in November in Yokohama. 

Ministers agreed in Nara to exchange information and best practice on efforts to expand newer and emerging types of tourism such as medical and wellness, religious events tourism, sports tourism, cruise tourism, ecotourism, and MICE (Meetings, Incentive travel, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events). 

"These avenues could stimulate new demand and tourism-related investment across the Asia-Pacific region," the declaration said.

The Nara Declaration also covers the following areas: 

Promoting collaboration between tourism offices and organizations, both public and private, in member economies

Greater collaboration between APEC groups, the private sector and international bodies

The need to implement strategies to promote the sustainable management of tourism businesses and destinations



APEC's share of world tourism has been growing over the past 15 years, according to StatsAPEC, an extensive database showing economic performance in the Asia-Pacific region. APEC's share of world tourism has increased from 28 percent in 1995 to currently 51 percent. International tourism arrivals in the APEC region have grown approximately 122 million over this period.

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Sendai, Japan, 22 September, 2010 - Asia Pacific officials heard at a trade policy conference on Tuesday how innovation helps create jobs for SMEs, boosts rural development, and creates efficiencies in healthcare. 

The private sector shared their views with APEC officials in Sendai where they gathered to address a broad range of issues, including the role of the application of innovation in information and communications technology (ICT) development and its impact on economic growth.  

Delegates heard how ICT can effectively address global challenges in critical areas such as energy, health, environment and how important it is for economies to put in place policies that encourage innovation. 

Experts also said ICT usage increases the level of efficiency provided to various social services including public safety, education, government-provided healthcare and transportation.

According to John Neuffer, Information Technology Industry Council?s Vice President for Global Public Policy, a 10% increase in broadband penetration in low and middle-income economies increases per-capita GDP growth by 1.38%. He added that that APEC can benefit enormously from the diffusion of ICT products to obtain productivity gains, increase jobs and improve the quality of life for the people of the APEC economies. Neuffer also told delegates that ICT capital has seven times the impact on productivity than non-ICT capital in economies with lower levels of IT usage, and around three times more than in other economies. 

Japan, host for APEC 2010, views ICT as one of the most important pillars to facilitate growth. Japan introduced the Smart ICT Application Initiative which identifies ways to share best practices, benefits and challenges faced by member economies working to employ ICT applications in socioeconomic activities.

"The Smart ICT Application Initiative addresses the challenges of logistics, the environment, public services, emergency response, healthcare, and energy," said Kejiro Suzuki, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Director of International Affairs for the Information Policy Division. 

"Already, the APEC Life Sciences Innovation Forum is tackling health IT promotion in its work program," he said. 

Joseph Alhadeff, Oracle's Vice President of Global Public Policy recommended that the right incentives and proper support for innovation in ICT could build capacity, support new business opportunities, expand markets and enable the delivery of the government services. 

He added: "But for this to happen, you need the right regulatory environment that nurtures transparency, non-discrimination, predictability and consensus between governments."

"Even the best ideas may be squashed if the regulatory environment is not supportive and facilitating innovation." Alhadeff went on to say that all APEC fora would benefit from collaborating on the issue. 

Intel's Director of Global Trade and Competition Policy, Greg Slater said: "The 2010 OECD Innovation Center offers five innovation principles, including upgrading skills; making capital available to SMEs; improving governance of research and development institutions; improving the measurement of innovation policies; and, applying innovation to social challenges especially by letting ICT disseminate at an affordable price." 

"Policies can spur or hinder innovation and its diffusion. APEC should discuss how it can benefit from ongoing efforts in other fora to leverage its own initiatives," Slater concluded.

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Manila, Philippines, 28 September, 2010 - The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has urged APEC Ministers to intensify efforts to improve access to resources such as financing, information communications technologies and human resources for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

ABAC made the call to coincide with the meeting of Small and Medium Enterprises Ministers in Gifu, Japan earlier this month which tackled this issue, and also agreed to focus efforts to improve access of SMEs to global markets and increase their participation in high-growth sectors. 

At its own meeting in Bangkok in late August, ABAC agreed that APEC should help to accelerate growth of SMMEs in the global economy, through policies to promote capacity building and financial inclusion. SMMEs make up 90% of all businesses and employ 60% of the workforce in the APEC region, yet their unique needs are often overlooked in stimulus packages, infrastructure and economic development plans.

SMME access to financing has been a perennial challenge. ABAC believes that this can be effectively addressed through development of new and enhanced platforms for financial inclusion. It has therefore encouraged APEC Finance Ministers to launch an initiative to improve credit information systems and legal frameworks for secured lending. 

On the issue of information communications technologies (ICT), SMME access to reliable and affordable broadband is vital to increase their efficiency and, more importantly, connect them to markets, said 
Fauziah Talib, Chair of the ABAC Capacity Building Working Group.

A recent ABAC survey on ICT utilization identified high prices and the lack of training in broadband adoption as the top two barriers to trade for SMMEs. The survey recommended that policymakers focus efforts on education measures to increase awareness among SMMEs of the benefits of broadband use. It also stressed the need for measures to lower ICT costs by increasing competitive pressures on broadband providers and providing cost incentives for SMMEs.

Another ABAC study on innovative growth models revealed the need for policymakers to focus on skills training and human resources development for SMMEs. This could be supported through SMME market knowledge centres, which can help to augment market research and the market access capabilities of SMMEs. It can also be supported through SMME training facilities and an education framework that equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools to establish and grow a business.

ABAC, which is composed of business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, was created by APEC Leaders to provide them with information on issues of importance to the business sector. Its members are appointed by the Leaders of each APEC member economy. Gempachiro Aihara of Japan is the current ABAC chair.

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Sendai, Japan, 26 September, 2010 - Senior Officials discussed key reports and recommendations on enhancing trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region that will be submitted to Ministers and Leaders of member economies when they meet in November.

At the two-day Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) in Sendai, Japan, delegates focused on APEC's 2010 initiatives including its "high-quality" growth strategy, assessment on progress of the Bogor Goals and the way forward on greater regional economic integration. 

They made progress on the substance of APEC's growth strategy, which aims to improve the quality of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region in the wake of the global financial crisis, and identifies five key areas to target.

Although the APEC region has become the world's growth centre by promoting free and open trade and economic integration, APEC Leaders declared in 2009 the need for a strategy on growth, recognizing that challenges such as further environmental sustainability and social inclusiveness are essential to the future prosperity and well-being of its citizens. 

"Is it clear that member economies cannot continue with ?growth as usual' and the quality needs to be improved so that it is more balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure," APEC Japan 2010 Senior Official Co-Chair Shigeru Nakamura said.

"Member economies recognize, for example, the need to protect our environment and natural resources and therefore develop sustainable growth. APEC could also contribute to inclusive growth by promoting policies for job creation as well as more economic opportunities for women," he said.

APEC Japan 2010 Senior Official Co-Chair Hidehiko Nishiyama added: "The meeting made progress towards finalizing this strategy which will be presented to Leaders on the way forward for the next five years." 

Senior officials also held discussions on the substance of a report that assesses APEC member economies' progress on free and open trade. The assessment report on meeting the Bogor Goals will also be presented to Ministers and Leaders in November.

APEC Leaders issued a declaration in Bogor, Indonesia in 1994 that called for industrialized member economies to achieve free and open trade by 2010, and developing members by 2020. APEC has conducted a thorough and objective assessment on the progress of achieving those goals, with consultation from APEC's Policy Support Unit and external bodies.

The progress of five economies - Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the USA - has been examined. Another eight economies, Chile, Hong Kong China, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Chinese Taipei, have volunteered to undergo early assessment before their own target date of 2020. 

Officials also focused on the way forward on APEC's strategy for structural reform. APEC is undertaking initiatives aimed at making it easier to do business by reducing "behind-the-border" barriers to trade, such as reducing unnecessary and costly regulations and reforming competition policy. 

They also focused on ways to accelerate regional economic integration, including possible pathways to a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.

Officials have been holding related meetings, workshops and symposiums in Sendai in the lead up to the Senior Officials' Meeting, which covered a wide range of issues, including non-tariff barriers to trade, energy security, food security, disaster preparedness, sustainable tourism, anti-corruption and supply chain connectivity.

The APEC Senior Officials' Meeting is the third this year, and officials will gather again in November to finalize recommendations for Ministers' and Leaders' meeting, which takes place later that month.

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Gifu, Japan, 3 October, 2010 - In a joint statement issued today, APEC Ministers responsible for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) target the challenges of fostering long-term growth following the global economic crisis. 

Following two-days of discussions, the ministers released the statement containing recommendations for Leaders to guide the development of policy for SMEs in their respective economies.

Ministers considered the impact of the global financial crisis on SMEs and the emergency stimulus responses by APEC member economies, concluding that "overall, economic growth of SMEs in the APEC region is back on track."

The statement discussed development of SMEs over the next few years and noted that looking forward to 2020, efforts to enhance development should focus on improving their access to global markets and increasing their participation in high-growth sectors, such as in the green, medical and healthcare industries. 

Ministers said that efforts could include the following and agreed to call the first three efforts the "Gifu Initiative":

Supporting SMEs to take advantage of each locality's domestic and regional resources to develop high value-added products, and to sell to the global marketplace

Promoting exhibitions and trade shows in the region that are open to the Asia-Pacific region's SMEs

Supporting SMEs to expand and strengthen networking by launching international internship and exchange programmes

Strengthening assistance for human resources development, innovation, business change, productivity improvement, and entrepreneurship

Developing a coordinated approach between SME- and related agencies to implement measures aimed at improving access to finance, capability building and the legal system


"We, the Small and Medium Enterprises Ministers, aim to generate dynamic and diverse SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region, from micro to mid-sized enterprises, in industries that support the basics of everyday life through to those developing and employing the most advanced technologies," the statement said.

The statement is a result of the 17th APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting in Gifu, Japan which was held under the theme "Strategy for Reinvigorating Economic Growth with Dual Engine: SME and Asia-Pacific Economy."

Ministers recognized that continuing to support the development of SMEs was an important component of APEC's new growth strategy, which will be formulated by Leaders in Yokohama in November. 

The strategy supports "high quality growth" including the attribute of inclusiveness, which aims to spread the benefits to wider sections of the community, and innovation. Enhancing SMEs is therefore crucial for APEC, given that they account for around 90 percent of all businesses in the Asia-Pacific region and employ as much as 60 percent of its work force.

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Kuala Lumpur, 4 October, 2010 - APEC joins the United Nations Economic Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the Asian Development Bank this week at their annual forum on improving the flow of trade across borders, especially paperless trade.

The Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum 2010 will be held in Kuala Lumpur from October 5-6 under the theme "Trade Facilitation for Regional Connectivity: Advancing Paperless Trade." 

The forum provides an open platform to exchange information, experiences and practices for trade facilitation and to learn about new tools and services which can increase the efficiency of cross-border transactions. 
 
Participants include government ministers, traders and international groups including the UN's Economic Commission for Europe, ASEAN and the World Customs Organization.

APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor, has been invited to speak at the forum, and will share APEC's initiatives and experiences on enhancing connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region to boost trade. 

He said the event was an important opportunity to share knowledge and collaborate more closely on developing a more integrated and prosperous region. 

Ambassador Noor said APEC is involved in a myriad of activities to facilitate trade in the region, including promoting the use of electronic documents and internet technologies to achieve a paperless trading environment. 

The APEC Business Travel Card was one example. Used by more than 80,000 travellers throughout the year in most APEC member economies, the scheme provides business travellers with pre-approved visa clearance and expedited airport processing when visiting APEC economies.

"APEC member economies are working towards an environment in which businesses can take the best advantage of e-commerce," Ambassador Noor said.

"Taking a more tactical approach, APEC is collaborating with business, academia and government sectors to further develop its Supply-Chain Connectivity Framework. This Framework will tackle eight priority chokepoints that relate to regulatory impediments, customs inefficiencies, and inadequate transport networks and infrastructure. 

"APEC is firmly committed to the work of liberalising and facilitating trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. We see this as an important means of achieving sustained economic growth and progressing our goal of 'Advancing Free Trade for Asia-Pacific Prosperity'."

APEC is also among groups that will host a booth at the forum's multimedia exhibition to maximize information sharing about initiatives, case studies and findings.

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Paracas, Peru, 8 October, 2010 - Securing fish supplies, sustainable management of marine resources, enhancing free trade and the effects of climate change on oceans will be addressed by APEC Ministers meeting here next week.

The 3rd APEC Oceans-related Ministerial Meeting will be held in Paracas on Peru's south coast on October 11-12 to address key issues impacting fisheries, a crucial industry for the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for about half of global fish exports.

Peru's Minister of Production, Jorge Villasante, said APEC's ongoing commitment to enhancing the security and sustainability of the sector is important, especially given its size and socio-economic significance for the region.
 
"APEC economies account for more than half of the world's exports of fishery products in terms of value, while six of the 10 largest exporters of seafood products are APEC member economies," the Minister said.

APEC member economies account for 65 percent of the world's capture fisheries and more than 80 percent of aquaculture production. APEC economies account for approximately half of the world's exports of fishery products in terms of value, totalling USD45.6 billion in 2007.

The fisheries and aquaculture sector also employs about 26.2 million people in the region, and for some living in rural and remote areas, it is one of the few sources of available income.

The region also consumes 70 percent of the world's fish products, including from aquaculture. Ensuring reliable and affordable access to seafood is therefore a key issue for APEC Ministers, along with sustainable development of the industry and protection of the marine environment.

Enhancing fair and equitable trade in the industry is also expected to be discussed along with the effects of climate change on oceans, such as rising sea levels and their impact on coastal communities.

Ministers are expected to share information on food security issues in their economy, and to release a joint statement at the end of the two-day meeting on the way forward. Ministers will also hold a press conference at the conclusion of the meeting for local and international media.

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Paracas, Peru, 12 October 2010 - At the conclusion of this week's meeting in Paracas, Peru, APEC ministers responsible for fisheries and marine resources conservation, adopted the Paracas Declaration. 

Chaired by Peru's Minister of Production, Mr. Jorge Villasante, the grouping acknowledged that they met at a time when the global economy continues to recover from a recession, in the wake of a spike in food prices, in the face of intensifying effects of climate change on ecosystems, and when marine ecosystems were under increasing stress due to a growing range of activities.  

Held under the theme "Healthy Oceans and Fisheries Management towards Food Security," in Paracas, a marine sanctuary situated at the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the Ministers stated that they will focus on four themes going forward: 

Sustainable development and protection of the marine environment;

Impact of climate change on the oceans;

Free and open trade and investment; and,

The role of oceans in food security


The Paracas Declaration includes an action agenda that addresses key challenges and reaffirms earlier commitments. Ministers called for the following actions:

Seek ways to promote cooperation among APEC economies to contribute towards regional assessments in the APEC region and understanding of the marine ecosystem;

Ensure sustainable management of the marine environment by encouraging capacity building and information sharing on approaches among APEC economies to protect human health, provide economic and social benefits, and contribute to food security in the APEC region;

Encourage APEC economies to reduce both sea and land-based sources of marine pollution and marine debris;

Gather and share of scientific knowledge on climate change and its impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture;

Stressing the importance of the fisheries subsidies negotiations as part of the World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda and urging the APEC economies to actively commit to a successful and effective outcome of these negotiations, in line with the 2005 WTO Hong Kong Ministerial mandate, to strengthen disciplines on subsidies in the fisheries sector, taking into account the importance of the fisheries sector for poverty reduction, job creation and food security;

Promote the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture resources both domestically and internationally through, inter alia, application of science to management, implementation of ecosystem approaches and a precautionary approach to fisheries, and ensuring that sufficient institutional capacity is in place.



APEC Oceans Ministers will convey the outcomes to the first APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security, which will be held on 16-17 October, Niigata, Japan and to the attention of APEC Leaders at their meeting in November in Yokohama, Japan.

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Paracas, Peru, 12 October 2010 - APEC Oceans Ministers focused on the region's food security, sustainable development and protection of the marine environment and free and open trade and investment after opening their meeting on Monday in Paracas, Peru.

APEC Oceans-related Ministers also discussed the impact of climate change on oceans at the October 11-12 meeting, which is being held under the theme "Healthy Oceans and Fisheries Management towards Food Security."

Highlighting concerns about climate change, Peru's Minister of Production, Jorge Villasante, said that the effects of global warming on ocean life are irreversible and put marine species at risk.

"There is no denying that the planet's oceans are in crisis due to climate change, destructive fishing practices, increased illegal fishing and over-fishing. These are major threats to the marine environment." 

During the plenary session, Ministers held discussions with the aim of building consensus on the substance of the major issues, including how oceans can contribute to feeding under-nourished populations. 

Minister Villasante went on to say that evaluating the oceans as a source of food for the important provision of proteins and vital nutrients is critical. 
 
Delegates also called for urgent action to improve conservation of marine ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region, saying 80% of the world's fish population is over-exploited. They recognized that diverse studies on the actual state of the marine environment and its resources show a continuous degradation of the ecosystem's health. 

Other delegates highlighted the impact of the fisheries industry on the Asia-Pacific region in relation to the trade and investment challenges for the sector, including tariffs and the need for eco-certification and eco-labelling when exporting to some member economies, increased sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements, traceability, subsidies and overcapacity.

The impact of climate change on oceans was highlighted. Changes in the migration routes of fish as a result of climate change will have a significant impact on fisheries and other marine industries. Studies show large number of marine species could move from tropical seas towards cooler waters to avoid rising water temperatures caused by climate change. 

Ministers recognized that trade plays an important role in strengthening food security and contributes to the satisfaction of the worldwide demand of nutrients. 

APEC Ministers will convey the outcomes to the first APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security, which will be held on 16-17 October, in Niigata, Japan and to the attention of APEC Leaders at their meeting in November in Yokohama, Japan.

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Niigata, Japan, 14 October, 2010 - APEC Ministers will tackle key issues involving the sustainable development of agriculture and increased investment and trade in the sector when they gather here this week for the first-ever APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security.

During the October 16-17 meeting, Ministers will develop an action plan, aimed at improving reliable access to food, particularly agricultural products, throughout the Asia-Pacific region, where one quarter of the world's undernourished people live. 

Although food security has long been a priority issue for APEC, the remarkable spike in food prices between 2007 and 2008 and the global financial crisis have highlighted the fragility of balancing food demand and supply. The region is also frequently affected by natural disasters that can damage production and reduce access to food.
 
In 2009, the world's undernourished population exceeded one billion people and estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations indicate that to accommodate a world population of more than nine billion by 2050, food production must increase by 70 percent.

APEC Ministers will address environmental concerns related to agriculture production, including the impact of climate change. Emergency preparedness for agriculture in the event of natural disasters is also expected to be discussed along with development of rural communities that rely on agriculture as a source of income.

The meeting is also set to look at promoting investment in agriculture to meet growing food consumption needs, facilitating trade of agricultural products and strengthening confidence in international agricultural markets to address volatility and uncertainty in commodity prices. 

The Ministerial meeting will make an important contribution to APEC's agenda of "human security", and the formulation of its growth strategy, to be finalized by Leaders in Yokohama in November, which is committed to "high-quality economic growth" in the region.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Ministers are expected to issue a declaration on APEC food security and an action plan on food security and hold a press conference for local and international media.

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Sapporo, Japan, 26 May 2010 - Kicking off two weeks of meetings by APEC working groups and officials which will culminate in the meeting of

APEC Trade Ministers on 5-6 June, the APEC Mining Task Force has considered its role in APEC's new Growth Strategy for the region.

As a contributor to the long-term strategy, which focuses on growth that is balanced, inclusive, sustainable, and knowledge-based, the region-wide task force has outlined its own contribution as follows:

 

Balanced Growth 
The MTF will strengthen policy dialogue and identify best practices for regulatory and structural reforms in the mining sector. It will continue to advance trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation; for example by encouraging members to implement APEC's Ease-of-Doing-Business Action Plan as it relates to mining and metallurgy.

Sustainable growth 
Work on identifying principles for, and best practices in, sustainable development in mining will continue. A three-day workshop titled, "Balancing Competing Demands of Mining, Community and the Environment to achieve Sustainable Development," will be held in Korea later in 2010. The focus will be on building members' capacity in mine rehabilitation and reclamation, and on helping members implement policies that incorporate consideration of the environmental and social implications of mining. 
Other projects such as "Capacity Building on Sustainable Development Indicators for the Mining and Mineral Industry" and on "Building Capacity for Low Carbon Mining" were also proposed by members.

Inclusive growth 
The MTF will identify members' capacity building needs with respect to mining, and carry out activities to fill the gaps. Members will also be encouraged to develop social resilience safety nets for workers in the mining and metallurgy sectors.

Knowledge-based growth 
The MTF will serve as a platform for members to exchange information on new technologies in mining, including those which improve environmental protection and energy efficiency.

+++

About the Mining Task Force 
APEC's Mining Task Force (MTF) comprises representatives from both government and the mining industry. The MTF works to achieve better outcomes for mining and the trade of mineral and metals in the APEC region through policy dialogue, research promotion, industry development, capacity building and the liberalisation of trade and investment.



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Chiang Mai, Thailand, 26 May 2010 - Anticipating a move away from fossil fuels, the APEC Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group has established an international network of experts from both public and private sectors, dedicated to exploring issues associated with the development and use of biofuels.

Pooling knowledge resources to maximise collective benefits and to address future challenges, the group will meet regularly with a view to disseminating best practices and to inform policy-makers in their respective economies.

 

To learn more about the APEC Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group, click here.



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Taipei, Chinese Taipei, 27 May 2010 - Recent turmoil in global energy markets underscores "the continuing challenges we face in strengthening energy security throughout the Asia Pacific," says the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

 

In a letter to APEC Energy Ministers, ABAC - a group comprising some of the most respected business people from throughout the Asia-Pacific - makes very specific recommendations as to how these challenges might be addressed. Excerpts follow:

ABAC strongly recommends continued engagement between governments and the private sector... This is important as the private sector, including energy producers, transporters, financers, and consumers as well as relevant NGOs, provide essential perspective on the real impact of proposed policy and regulatory measures on actual markets, consumption patterns and productivity.

In 2008, ABAC sponsored publication of the Strategic Framework for Energy Security in APEC, a document designed to guide APEC's energy security work. From our perspective much remains to be done to implement many of the recommendations contained in this document.

In the near term, we encourage APEC governments to focus on improving efficiency and conservation as a cost effective approach that can be broadly applied across the spectrum of supply and demand. Expansion and diversification of energy resources remains an important piece of any comprehensive energy security approach. APEC should work to secure wider use of low-carbon fossil fuels, including promoting the use of natural gas and development of gas transport infrastructure.

Nuclear energy is appropriate for many economies as a low emissions source of power generation. ABAC supports consideration of nuclear energy and studies into its feasibility in APEC individual economies.

We recommend Ministers undertake to study the possibility of establishing an APEC or Asian futures market in gas.

A comprehensive approach must include efforts to manage demand through conservation and efficiency efforts. This should include emphasis on improving the energy efficiency of power plants, promoting conservation and efficiency in buildings, and development of a common labelling system to promote dissemination of energy efficient products, including home appliances and IT products.

It is important to prioritise development of standard metrics to assess efficiency, preferably by sector, to assist in measuring progress and quantify results. We encourage Ministers to commit to establishing an APEC-wide common understanding of terminology, standards and best practices for measuring efficiency. Eliminating distortions and promoting efficiencies in energy markets must also be a cornerstone of a strategic approach to improving energy security. Recognising that in a group as diverse as APEC, complete harmonisation of standards is very difficult, we feel that in the near term, a focus on transparency and information sharing in this area may be a more practical goal.

Expanded emphasis on developing "clean" energy and promoting innovation in energy and related technologies is a final core pillar to a complete APEC energy security approach. Such development must involve close cooperation with government through public-private partnerships and regulatory framework that encourages private sector investment.

APEC economies should complement UNFCCC principles and processes by endorsing the development of an APEC Low-Carbon Pathfinder Scheme. The Scheme would be based on the successful APEC formula of voluntary, non-binding, open regionalism. Under such a Scheme, low-carbon policy measures by each APEC economy would be systematically and transparently prioritised and reviewed, with reports published annually or biennially so as to share experiences with other APEC economies.

APEC must continue to recognise that regional energy security strategies must be developed and implemented in the context of the overall global energy security situation. As such, relevant APEC agencies and sub-fora should coordinate closely with energy-related international organisations to ensure synchronicity of effort and maximise the potential for collaborative progress.

The letter is signed by ABAC 2010 Chair, Gempachiro Aihara, on behalf of the group.

 



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Sapporo, Japan, 29 May 2010 - The APEC Business Mobility Group announced today that the Russian Federation has been accepted into the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) scheme as a transitional member. This means that all of APEC's 21 members now participate in the scheme.

 

"This is a historic occasion for APEC and the ABTC, as Russia's membership completes the circle. The ABTC is one of APEC's great success stories: it contributes to APEC's goal of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific, and shows how practical cooperation can be achieved," said Mr Stephen Allen, Chair of the APEC Business Mobility Group which oversees the scheme.

 

At the official membership ceremony, Mr Vladimir Kristov from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation described the significance of the occasion: "This is a marvellous event for Russia and for the region. We can all now use the ABTC as a platform for great business opportunities, and increase the linkages between our economies".

The ABTC facilitates business travel in the Asia-Pacific by allowing cardholders:

Pre-cleared immigration entry into the 18 fully participating member economies*, eliminating the cost and time involved in obtaining visas.

Expedited transit through special fast-track lanes at major airports and seaports in all 21 economies.

Over 80,000 active cardholders now enjoy these benefits, and the APEC business community's interest in the scheme continues to grow. Figures to-date in 2010 show applications are up 27 percent on the same period last year.

As of April 2010, Russia has been providing fast-track ABTC lanes at its international airports and seaports; and it will announce procedures for its citizens to apply for the card in due course. As it is a transitional member, all ABTC cardholders entering Russia will still have to obtain a visa (unless otherwise exempt under Russian legislation or international arrangements). However, visa applications from ABTC cardholders will be given priority.

Under existing bilateral agreements, Russia is able to provide full ABTC benefits to applicants holding ordinary passports from Hong Kong-China and Thailand for stays of up to 14 days and 90 days respectively. Applicants from 16 other economies - Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Viet Nam - can currently receive multiple entry visas at Russian Embassies or Consulates.

Pre-clearance of Russian citizens by other economies will be possible once Russia is able to offer reciprocal arrangements to those economies.

*The 18 fully participating members are: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; China; Chile; Hong Kong, China; Korea; Indonesia; Japan; Peru; Philippines; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; and Viet Nam. The 3 transitional members are: Canada, Russia, United States.

 



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Sapporo, Japan, 1 June 2010 - As Trade Ministers from across APEC prepare for their annual meeting later this week, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has delivered a set of five recommendations, with the intent that they be taken to APEC Leaders. These are:

Recommendation 1: ABAC recommends that Leaders should re-commit to achieving free and open trade within the APEC region. Taking account of the fundamental changes in APEC's economic and social structures over the last sixteen years, and the fact that we are now in the era of the post-industrialized knowledge-based economy, ABAC recommends that a new vision is needed, building on the Bogor Goals to reflect the changing nature of modern Asia Pacific regional supply chains and value chains. This vision should seek to liberalize flows of goods, services, investment, technology, e-commerce and people; and have a strong emphasis on balanced and inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Recommendation 2: ABAC recommends that Leaders agree that a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) is an aspirational but achievable vehicle for delivering free and open trade and investment within the region. ABAC is seeking from Ministers greater detail on the modalities and processes towards an FTAAP to enable active involvement by the business community.

Recommendation 3: ABAC recommends that Leaders recognize the importance of existing and progressing regional trade arrangements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, and ASEAN+6/CEPEA as potential pathways to delivering an FTAAP. As these existing arrangements evolve, they should draw on previously developed APEC model FTA chapters covering goods, services and investment and other new business requirements to guide their progress. ABAC further requests that Leaders of economies engaged in evolving regional arrangements direct their officials to share knowledge and substance about their respective negotiations in a timely and transparent fashion, while respecting the negotiating sensitivity of some issues.

Recommendation 4: ABAC recommends that as a new vision for APEC is developed, the business community is closely engaged so that policy makers draw on business leaders' expertise in identifying practical initiatives and proposing workable solutions. ABAC recommends that the links between the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting and ABAC processes be better defined and integrated.

Recommendation 5: ABAC recommends that as part of achieving the Bogor Goals or a new vision, Leaders direct the APEC Secretariat to develop an annual set of 'Regional Integration Metrics' to monitor each economy's progress towards greater regional economic integration and inclusive growth. Such indicators are essential for benchmarking performance and creating accountability from Leaders. ABAC recommends the creation of a one page "Regional Integration Dashboard" for each economy showing the level and change in various indicators of liberalization, including but not limited to, the flows of goods, services, investment, technology and people.

In fact, a key component of ABAC's 2010 agenda is an assessment of APEC members' achievement of the Bogor Goals* from the business perspective. Last week, in a letter to Trade Ministers, ABAC members explained that:

"ABAC's own review clearly identifies that many member economies have become considerably more open since 1994. Industrialized economies have made significant steps towards becoming more free and open, a trend apparent among developing economies as well."

While the global economy has evolved considerably since 1994, ABAC cites a need to increase efforts toward deeper regional economic integration...

"More needs to be done to achieve the goal of free and open trade and investment in the APEC region. This needs to encompass trade in goods, services, investment, ideas and the movement of people.... Trade and investment facilitation are also essential tools to enhance economic growth."

ABAC includes representatives from the business communities in each of APEC's 21 member economies. These representatives are appointed by APEC Leaders as a source of insight to the priorities and concerns of the business sector.

APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) are to meet in Sapporo, Japan, 5 - 6 June.

*In 1994 in Bogor, Indonesia, APEC Leaders committed to the goals of free and open trade and investment in the region by 2010 for industrialized members and by 2020 for developing members.
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Sapporo, Japan, 3 June 2010 - APEC Trade Ministers are set to review members' progress in achieving regional free trade goals; and will receive an update on global trade negotiations from the World Trade Organisation's Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy.

The meeting of Asia-Pacific Trade Ministers will be held in Sapporo, Japan on 5-6 June and will conclude with a press conference on 6 June.

In 1994 APEC set the 'Bogor Goals' of free and open trade and investment by 2010 for industrialised members and by 2020 for developing members. Trade Ministers will now discuss members' progress based on an interim assessment report which combines input from: member economies, the APEC Business Advisory Council and relevant international organisations.

Existing figures show that substantial progress has already been made. Average tariffs in APEC member economies are now more than 60 percent lower than when APEC was established in 1989. APEC has also been making it easier and cheaper to do business through its trade and investment facilitation action plans. A five percent reduction in business transaction costs was achieved between 2002 and 2006, and APEC is on track to achieve a further five percent reduction by the end of this year.

Mr Lamy will brief Trade Ministers on progress in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations and on the WTO's efforts to monitor and counter protectionism. APEC Trade Ministers will then discuss how to give impetus to the DDA and maintain APEC's standstill against protectionism.

Trade Ministers will also focus on APEC's key agenda items for 2010. They will consider ways to accelerate regional economic integration, including possible pathways to a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. In addition, the Ministers will review APEC's work to formulate a new Growth Strategy for the region that achieves more balanced growth, attains greater inclusiveness in societies, better sustains the environment, and raises growth potential through innovation.

The meeting of Trade Ministers will be preceded by meetings of APEC Senior Officials and working level groups from May 24 to June 4.



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Sapporo, Japan, 3 June 2010 - Improving overall multimodal performance would increase intra- and extra-regional trade up to $500bn annually, says a report* exploring the potential impact of enhanced multimodal connectivity in APEC.

The report comes in the run-up to a meeting of APEC Trade Ministers this weekend and draws from analysis of air, land, and maritime transport, as well as logistics performance, to capture an economy's ability to manage complex multimodal linkages.

 

According to the report, while individual transport modes are important, making them work together through an efficient logistics system is even more important. Moreover, while the benefits of transport efficiency would be most visible in consumer goods, every sector performs better in direct relation to transport connectivity and efficiency.

 

The report therefore recommends that:

Investment in trade- and transport-related infrastructure development and maintenance should remain a priority for APEC member economies. Regional or sub-regional collaboration may be appropriate.

Regulatory reform based on cost-benefit analysis can help increase connectivity and improve the quality of service provision in vital areas, such as transport logistics.

The private sector should be engaged as a partner in infrastructure development and regulatory reform. Development of private sector competence in areas such as logistics should remain a key priority for member economies.

According to Dr. Ben Shepherd, lead author of the report, these observations are particularly important for developing member economies. Achieving the right balance between infrastructure investment, maintenance, and private logistics sector development remains crucial to enhancing overall competitiveness and boosting trade performance. Moving forward on all fronts simultaneously is likely to bring the greatest rewards.

The study was commissioned by APEC's Committee on Trade and Investment which is tackling chokepoints in the regional supply chain. It was undertaken by the APEC Policy Support Unit which conducts research and analysis to better inform policy-makers. To access the entire report, go to: http://www.apec.org/etc/medialib/apec_media_library/downloads/psu/2010.Par.0004.File.tmp/10_cti2_018rev1_PSU_Multimodal_ReportFIN.pdf

*The Economic Impact of Enhanced Multimodal Connectivity in the APEC Region, APEC Policy Support Unit, June 2010



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Sapporo, 6 June 2010 - APEC has today launched a new gateway to tariff and rules of origin information to help alleviate the 'noodle bowl' effect created by free trade agreements.

 

APEC's 21 members account for around 44 percent of world trade, and have concluded over 40 intra-APEC free trade agreements (FTAs); however businesses often don't take full advantage of these special trading arrangements because information on preferential tariffs and rules of origin (ROO) can be difficult to find.

"Business has told us that a lack of customs transparency is a major impediment to trade. APEC's new web-based gateway helps lift this barrier by providing businesses with the information they need to better leverage the trade opportunities that exist in the region", says Dr. Akihiko Tamura, Convenor of APEC's Market Access Group.

 

The information now available includes current MFN tariff rates, preferential tariff rates and preferential ROOs in APEC member economies' FTAs and regional trade agreements.

 

Says Dr. Tamura, "This initiative is an example of how information sharing in APEC and being responsive to the practical needs of business can help grow trade and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific".

Since APEC was established, member economies' total trade has increased six-fold, from US$3 trillion in 1989 to US$17 trillion in 2008 .

 

The gateway can be found at: www.apec.org/webtr.html

 

APEC's 21 member economies are: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; Viet Nam.



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Sapporo, Japan, 6 June 2010 - In a Statement issued today, at the close of two-day talks, APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade address:

The state of the global economy

Members' progress in achieving APEC's Bogor Goals of free and open trade

Advancing regional economic integration, including exploring possible pathways to a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific

Formulating a growth strategy for the region that achieves balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth

Promoting human security to ensure resilient and secure economies

The Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade, Statement of the Chair (Sapporo, Japan, 5 - 6 June 2010) may be accessed at: http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Trade/2010_trade.aspx

The Ministers have also issued a separate Statement extending APEC's standstill on protectionism until 2011, and expressing members' commitment to the multilateral trading system and their determination to bring the Doha Development Agenda to a successful conclusion.

The Statement on Supporting the Multilateral Trading System and Resisting Protectionism (Sapporo, Japan, 5 - 6 June 2010) may be accessed at:

http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Trade/2010_trade/2010_mrt_standalone.aspx

 



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Hong Kong, China, 11 June 2010 - Making it easier for SMEs to hire workers is key to regional economic development. This was the rationale for the "Employing Workers Seminar" held by APEC's Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group (SMEWG) in Hong Kong, China this week.

As SMEs are important drivers of regional growth, "There is a need to strike a balance between ensuring that SME employers are not overburdened by regulations, and ensuring that employees are protected", says Barry Jones, seminar organiser and Head of Division at Australia's Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

The event, targeted at the region's policy-makers, is the seventh in a series of capacity building seminars aimed at helping APEC economies improve their competitiveness based on the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' indicators.

Peru was presented as a case study for other APEC members to consider as its ranking under the 'employing workers' indicator has climbed 49 places between 2009 and 2010.

In recent years Peru has undertaken labour reforms including modifying taxation and superannuation arrangements to reduce the cost of doing business and the cost and complexity of employing workers. Progress in these areas has in turn contributed to improvements in economic performance. Since 2007, Peru experienced an average growth rate of nine percent, the highest of any Latin American economy.

"To achieve such improvements, APEC economies need to learn from each other's experiences and to find out which approaches work and which don't, and to keep on striving towards best practice," says Jones. Jones believes APEC is particularly suited for this task because it provides the platform for a wide range of economies with different circumstances and stages of development to come together to share lessons learnt.

In APEC, SMEs account for around 90 percent of all business and employ as much as 60 percent of the region's work force. The SMEWG continues to encourage the development of SMEs and to build their capacity to engage in international trade.

 



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Fukui, Japan, 19 June 2010 - Japan has donated JPY360,000,000 (approximately USD3.9 million) to promote energy efficiency activities and low-carbon measures in APEC.

In particular the funds will be used to support a low-emission urban development initiative approved by APEC Energy Ministers at their meeting in Fukui today.

"The Low-Carbon Model Town Project aims to introduce low-carbon technology at the level of society and not that of individual products. Over the next three years, APEC will select between 10 to 20 locations and conduct feasibility study projects to transform these cities into low-carbon cities," said the Chair of the meeting, Japan's Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Mr Masayuki Naoshima.

The fund will also complement APEC's existing capacity building activities on energy efficiency, the development and implementation of alternative energy sources, and the promotion of trade and investment in environmental goods and services.

"I hope that this fund will accelerate the low-carbon transformation and contribute to energy security in the region," explains Minister Naoshima.

APEC Executive Director, Ambassador Muhamad Noor welcomed the contribution saying, "APEC's objective is to build prosperous regional economies. Activities supported by the fund will help APEC members achieve economic growth that is environmentally sustainable and create new opportunities for 'green' industries."

Japan's contribution will be distributed through APEC's Sub-Fund on Energy Efficiency which was established in 2009 when Japan made an initial donation of JPY 120,000,000. Chinese Taipei and the United States have also contributed to the sub-fund.

The donation was made under a Memorandum of Understanding signed today by Minister Naoshima and Ambassador Muhamad Noor at the close of the 9th APEC Energy Ministers' Meeting.



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Fukui, Japan, 19 June 2010 - In a Declaration issued today, APEC's Energy Ministers have set down directions to advance energy security, improve energy efficiency and increase the clean energy supply in the APEC region.

New initiatives prescribed by the Energy Ministers include:

a Collaborative Assessment of Standards and Testing (CAST) scheme to boost trade and investment in energy efficient appliances;

a Nuclear Power Emissions Reduction Potential Study to assess the potential for nuclear power to reduce carbon emissions in interested APEC economies;

an APEC Smart Grid Initiative to evaluate the potential of smart grids to support the integration of intermittent renewable energies and energy management approaches in buildings and industry; and

the Low Carbon Model Town Project aimed at developing best practices to achieve low-emissions urban communities.

Additional tasks have been assigned to APEC's Energy Working Group (EWG) including: to work with the International Energy Agency to improve the region's oil and gas energy emergency response capacity; to contribute to initiatives that reduce energy commodity market volatility; to evaluate the potential of unconventional sources of natural gas and biofuels; and to promote the development and take-up of low-emission power sources (renewable, nuclear and fossil-fuels with carbon capture and sequestration)

Ministers have further instructed the EWG to recommend a larger energy intensity reduction target for the APEC region, given that the goal set in 2007 of a 25 percent reduction by 2030 is likely to be far surpassed.

The Declaration also reiterates APEC's commitment to rationalising and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption.

The full text of the Fukui Declaration on Low Carbon Paths to Energy Security: Cooperative Energy Solutions for a Sustainable APEC issued at the conclusion of the Ninth Meeting of APEC Energy Ministers may be accessed at: Here.

 



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Singapore, 1 July 2010 - Today APEC launched its new statistics portal, StatsAPEC. StatsAPEC is the only consolidated source of trade, financial and socio-economic data on APEC's 21 member economies.*

 

StatsAPEC can be accessed at http://statistics.apec.org/. The data dates back to APEC's inception in 1989 and can be exported to Microsoft Excel for further analysis.

 

As a result of this new portal, business people, government officials, the media, researchers, students and the public-at-large now have free access to an extensive database of statistics.

StatsAPEC is made up of two databases:

The Key Indicators Database

The Bilateral Linkages Database

The Key Indicators Database includes over 120 trade, financial and socio-economic indicators, allowing for detailed analysis of trends in the APEC region. The indicators cover areas such as:

Gross domestic product

Population

Unemployment

Education levels

CO2 omissions

The Bilateral Linkages Database facilitates detailed analysis of trade and investment flows within APEC and between APEC and the world. It includes statistics on items such as:

Merchandise trade

Foreign direct investment

Bank lending

Also, APEC aggregates are available for a broad range of indicators, making it easy to examine the region as a whole. APEC aggregates are a feature unique to StatsAPEC.

StatsAPEC has been developed by the APEC Policy Support Unit. Other PSU work can be accessed here.

*APEC member economies: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; China; Hong Kong, China;
Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines;
Russia; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; and Viet Nam.



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Singapore, 16 July 2010 - Recognising that trusted flows of information are essential to doing business in the global economy, APEC has today launched a mechanism for regional cooperation on data privacy law enforcement.

The new APEC Cross-border Privacy Enforcement Arrangement (CPEA) facilitates information sharing and cooperation between authorities responsible for data and consumer protection in the APEC region.

"The CPEA is groundbreaking," said Colin Minihan, Chair of the Data Privacy Subgroup of APEC's Electronic Commerce Steering Group. "It demonstrates that privacy enforcement authorities are engaging with the realities of global data flows and the associated risks of privacy violations that transcend national and jurisdictional boundaries. The CPEA reflects the commitment of APEC privacy and consumer protection authorities to work together and across borders in enforcing consumer privacy protections."

The arrangement establishes a process under which participating authorities may contact each other for help with collecting evidence, sharing information on an organisation or matter being investigated, enforcing actions, and transferring complaints to another jurisdiction.

Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, said the CPEA is an important step forward in addressing new challenges for privacy in a globalised, online world. "This will help us deal with privacy concerns relating to organisations that operate in multiple jurisdictions and businesses that move personal information across borders for processing. These are increasingly common phenomena in the economy of the 21st century and we need 21st century tools to address them."

The CPEA also encourages cooperation between privacy enforcement authorities in APEC and their international, non-APEC counterparts as the arrangement has been designed to work seamlessly with other regional and global schemes.

By providing a mechanism to help investigate and enforce privacy laws across borders, the CPEA will promote consumer trust in e-commerce which, in turn, will benefit business and trade in the Asia-Pacific. Thus, the CPEA is a key step in APEC's long-standing efforts to increase e-commerce and cross-border trade in the region.

The CPEA was developed by a volunteer group of APEC member economies - Australia; Canada; Hong Kong, China; Japan; New Zealand; the Philippines; Chinese Taipei; and the United States - with input from civil society and business groups. Initial participants in the CPEA are the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Australia, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand and the United States Federal Trade Commission. Additional privacy enforcement authorities from APEC member economies are also expected to join.

For a Factsheet on the CPEA see: http://www.apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC/Fact-Sheets/Collection/APEC-Cross-border-Privacy-Enforcement-Arrangement.aspx



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Singapore, 23 July 2010 - A modest recovery in global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows was evident in the first half of 2010, with the rebound being most palpable in some APEC member economies.

Recent trends in FDI were discussed at the launch of UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2010 at the APEC Secretariat in Singapore today.

Philip Gaetjens, Director of the APEC Policy Support Unit provided an Asia-Pacific perspective and noted that, "In line with worldwide trends, FDI inflows and outflows for the APEC region fell in 2009. However, the stock of inward FDI still grew by 16 percent to US$7.2 trillion and the stock of outward FDI increased by 26 percent to just over US$8 trillion." FDI stock refers to the amount of investment already accumulated in a host economy or region, as opposed to the actual flows in a given year.

These outcomes, as well as information on Greenfield projects and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the APEC region, can be found in a summary report prepared by the Policy Support Unit.

UNCTAD's FDI forecasts were reported by Ambassador Muhamad Noor, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, who relayed that, "UNCTAD predicts a stronger rebound in 2011 and 2012 with global inflows forecast to reach between 1.3 and 1.5 trillion US dollars in 2011, and as much as 1.6 to 2 trillion US dollars in 2012." Ambassador Noor also noted that while UNCTAD expects all regions to experience recovery, developing and transition economies will remain favourable destinations for FDI.

APEC has long-placed a high priority on investment liberalisation and facilitation because of the critical role investment plays in stimulating economic development and trade.

In 1994, it developed the APEC Non-Binding Investment Principlesto strengthen and enhance the transparency of investment regimes within APEC. In 2007, APEC also launched an Investment Facilitation Action Plan aimed at the promotion of investment in member economies.

APEC and UNCTAD have a history of partnering on investment-related initiatives. Under the APEC-UNCTAD Joint Capacity Building Project for Addressing Knowledge Gaps in the Use of Foreign Direct Investment, seven APEC economies have been selected as examples of best practices and case study reports have been completed in four areas, including electricity and roads. Reports on skill development and small and medium enterprises will be published shortly.

APEC and UNCTAD have also undertaken a joint study on the core elements of 100 international investment agreements. The study has been used as the basis for capacity building activities such as the APEC-UNCTAD Regional Training Course on the Core Elements of International Investment Agreements in the APEC Region held in Malaysia in June 2009, and a Workshop on Investor-State Dispute Settlement held in the Philippines in December 2009.

APEC's work on investment continues under the auspices of the Investment Experts' Group.

 



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Singapore, 3 August 2010 - APEC is holding a Growth Strategy High-Level Policy Roundtable in Beppu, Japan from 7-8 August.

In 2009 APEC Leaders expressed the need to "develop a new growth paradigm" for the Asia-Pacific region, and committed to put in place in 2010 a "comprehensive long-term growth strategy."

The Roundtable is being convened to advance the formulation of the strategy and the discussions will focus on five attributes of growth, namely balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth.

The meetings will be attended by ministerial-level officials from APEC's member economies, business people, academics and representatives of the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the International Energy Agency.

The Roundtable will be preceded by a Symposium which is open to the public. During the Symposium presentations will be given by: Dr Peter Drysdale, Professor Emeritus, The Australian National University; Dr Feng Fei, Director General of Industrial Economics Research, Development Research Center of The State Council of China; and Mr Atsutoshi Nishida, Chairman, Toshiba Corporation.

A press conference will be held at the close of the Roundtable at 1300h on Sunday, 8 August 2010.



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"We have a huge asset in place in APEC, and we can continue to build on that", says Professor Peter Drysdale* in his keynote address delivered at a Symposium held in Beppu, Japan on 7 August 2010.

In his address, titled "APEC's Achievements and Challenges Today", Drysdale draws attention to the significance of APEC's establishment and its legacy to date. "APEC signalled the emergence of a new economic and political order in East Asia and the Pacific", says Drysdale, and on trade and economic performance "[APEC] compares more than favourably with NAFTA or the European Union".

According to his research, APEC is seen to have a positive effect both on trade between members, and between members and non-members, and should therefore be appreciated as "a global not just a regional public good".

Drysdale answers the question "What should APEC do now?" by stating that it should go back to basics in the areas in which it has a strong and effective record.

"The bold and continuing goal for APEC is to work towards the establishment of a seamless market, a single economy to all intents and purposes in the Asia-Pacific", says Drysdale. He also highlights APEC's role in the reinforcement of national structural reform agendas - a key regional priority given the importance of structural reform to the achievement of sustainable and balanced growth in the Asia-Pacific.

A central role on the global stage is also posited, with Drysdale recommending that APEC should link its trade reform agenda to that of the G20 and that, "APEC should spearhead delivery on the Doha Round and re-inventing the WTO as the anchor of an open and global economic system".

To hear the full keynote address please click here.

To read the address click here.

* Peter Drysdale is Professor Emeritus at the Crawford School of Economics and Government, The Australian National University. The public Symposium was organised by the Oita Prefecture to precede the APEC Growth Strategy High-Level Policy Roundtable held on 7-8 August 2010 in Beppu, Japan.



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Beppu, Japan, 7 August 2010 - "APEC is faced with a strategic window of opportunity to maximise its leverage on the global economy after the recent global financial crisis," says Dr. Hank Lim* in his address to a public Symposium held in Beppu, Japan on 7 August 2010.

Lim notes that APEC member economies account for nine out of the 20 countries that make up the G-20 and declares that APEC should therefore, "leverage its weight by having a long-term vision and short-term policy objectives".

A role for APEC is also laid out in reinforcing the work of other regional organisations such as the ASEAN Plus Three and the East Asia Summit, particularly in the areas of climate change, sustainable growth, secure growth and emergency preparedness. Lim does not see the range of alternative regional fora as competing for primacy, but rather considers them a "concentric modality" that together can contribute to regional and global prosperity.

APEC's comparative advantage however, according to Lim, lies in the creation of "regional public goods which are in very short supply relative to their demand by less developed member economies". In particular he refers to APEC's role in the development and implementation of policies on: economic, technical and trade facilitation; standardisation and harmonisation of rules and regulations; and logistics connectivity.

To listen to Dr Lim's recommendations click here. 

To read the full presentation click here.

*Dr. Hank Lim is the Chairperson of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) Academic Advisory Council and a Senior Research Fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. The public Symposium was organised by the Oita Prefecture to precede the APEC Growth Strategy High-Level Policy Roundtable held on 7-8 August 2010 in Beppu, Japan.



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Singapore 12 October 2009 - What can APEC do for business? After an arduous process in which business students fro,m across the APEC region submitted responses in essay form, a winner has been selected to attend the prestigious APEC CEO Summit and to meet Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong.

Geoffrey See, Singaporean and currently studying state-owned enterprises in China at Yale University in the United States drew inspiration from the Boeing Dreamliner project:

"...remarkable not just for its amazing product, or its interminable delays, but also for the unprecedented global production network it has brought together."

Entitled Asia Pacific as the World's Global Cluster*, See's work considers global clusters as a paradigm for production and explores ways that APEC might assist in building these clusters and reducing institutional distance between economies.

First runner-up, Indra Surya Susantio discusses the importance of private sector involvement through APEC in fostering the economic development at the Base of the Pyramid in his essay, What Can APEC do for Business: Fostering Economic Growth Through the Business Development Programme at the Base of the Pyramid*. Susantio is Indonesian, and currently studying at Waseda University, Graduate School of Commerce in Japan.

Second runner-up is Sunviana Sunaryo, also from Indonesia and studying at Prasetiva Mulya Business School. Her essay, APEC 5 Green Steps: Facilitating Green Business in the Asia-Pacific Region*argues that the existing environmental crisis will outlast the economic crisis; and proposes five ways to address burdens related to climate change.

The winner and runners-up will have all expenses paid as they travel to Singapore to attend the conference and meet the Prime Minister.

*The views expressed in the essays are those of the inpidual authors, and may not represent APEC's views on any matter. APEC does assume responsibility for any errors contained therein. Copyright in the essays rests with APEC. Parties wishing to republish the essays must: (1) acquire the prior written consent of the APEC Secretariat; (2) acknowledge the APEC essay competition; and (3) note that the views expressed in the essay may not represent APEC's views on any matter.



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Singapore, 14 October 2010 - The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) has warned that business interest in the multilateral process is waning and that the WTO may be perceived as less relevant, if a conclusion to the Doha Round is further delayed.

Earlier this week, ABAC members met with WTO Ambassadors and Director-General Pascal Lamy in Geneva, to express their support for a rapid conclusion of Doha and to convey their strong belief in the primacy of the multilateral trading system.

While business generally supports the multilateral process and the WTO, explains Tony Nowell, ABAC Liberalization Working Group Chairman, scepticism has been steadily rising because of the widening gap between rhetoric and action.

Conversely, he says, support has been growing for the establishment of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). APEC Leaders have instructed officials to develop specific recommendations for moving forward on an FTAAP, an idea espoused by ABAC since 2006.

"While an FTAAP and the WTO are not incompatible - both will go on regardless of the outcome of Doha - it does take away focus on the Doha Round and forces business to adapt to new challenges that the WTO has yet to consider. There is real danger that the WTO's relevance may be questioned if it is not in a position to have any influence on these issues - particularly now that the supply chain business model has become the norm."

According to Teng Theng Dar, Chairman of ABAC 2009, the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Singapore in November may be a golden opportunity to declare a commitment to complete the Round on time, given the presence of Leaders of economies that account for almost half the world's trade and including the USA, China and Japan.

"With the global economic recovery still fragile and business and consumer confidence still unstable, any signal, whether positive or negative, is going to be magnified in its impact. It is therefore critical that the news coming out of Geneva be positive."

The message that ABAC heard in Geneva is generally positive, he explains, but not without caution:

"We are told that completion of the Round by 2010 is indeed possible but that several things will have to happen within a relatively short period of time. In terms of the process itself, all technical issues should be settled by late this year. On the substantive issues of the negotiations, it seems that movement from the major players - particularly the USA - is key to progress."

Incoming ABAC Chair Gempachiro Aihara, said that the while the new Japanese government has yet to unveil its economic and trade policies, past experience suggests that these policies will favour positive engagement with the global economy. He expressed optimism that, as host of APEC in 2010, Japan will take a leading role in achieving progress in both APEC and the WTO.

ABAC was created by APEC Leaders to provide a business perspective on regional economic integration. Members are appointed by the Leaders of each APEC member economy.

 



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Singapore, 8 November 2009 - The impact of APEC membership on trade is comparable to that of a free trade agreement, even without a binding agreement.

In a report completed last month, an independent research team has tackled the much-debated question: Does APEC really make a difference to trade?

The report's analysis reveals that APEC members trade with each other more than they do with other free trading agreement partners and much more with trading partners who are both members of APEC and members of the World Trade Organisation. This, say analysts, demonstrates the high level of de facto integration between members of APEC, even under non-binding arrangements.

After taking into account the usual factors that influence trade - like size of economy, distance between economies, WTO membership and being in an FTA with a trading partner - APEC members are 3 times more likely to export to another member than to a non-member and two times more likely to import from another member than from a non-member.

Findings are further supported by a five-fold increase in trade within APEC since its establishment in 1989 and the 67 percent share that intra-regional trade comprises of total APEC trade. Notably, this is a larger intra-regional share of trade than that in the EU-27.

"This provides analytical evidence that APEC achieves results, explains Philip Gaetjens, Director of the APEC Policy Support Unit, the team responsible for the report.

"It shows that regional integration is strong and has prospered under a voluntary and non-binding approach to enhancing trade."

Member economies have virtually eliminated tariffs and continue to find ways to reduce trade barriers. APEC has been exploring the possibility of a Free Trade Area in the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

The Report 
Trade Creation in the APEC Region: Measurement of the Magnitude of and Changes in Intra-Regional Trade since APEC's Inception, APEC Policy Support Unit, October 2009.

For a short synopsis of report findings, go to:
Factsheet - Trade Creation in the APEC Region

To view the report in its entirety, go to:
Full Report- Trade Creation in the APEC Region

 



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Singapore, 12 November 2009 - In a statement issued today, APEC Finance Ministers tackle challenges facing the world economy in the post-crisis period:

"...restoring growth potential; successfully exiting the extraordinary fiscal, financial and monetary policy measures; implementing credible medium-term fiscal consolidation strategies; and meeting the region?s massive infrastructure needs."

On fiscal stimulus and exit strategies:

"We agreed that the pace of implementing exit strategies should take into account different stages in the economic recovery of member economies, the type of policy measures to be phased out, and any spillovers caused by our strategies. However, actions that would strengthen fiscal credibility without negatively affecting demand - such as measures to strengthen fiscal frameworks and some pension and health sector reforms, including those that will be phased in gradually - should start to be implemented as soon as possible."

On reforms to support strong, sustainable, and balanced growth:

"APEC members with sustained, significant external deficits pledge to undertake policies to support private savings and undertake fiscal consolidation while maintaining open markets and strengthening export sectors."

"APEC members with sustained, significant external surpluses pledge to strengthen domestic sources off growth. According to circumstances in inpidual economies, this could include increasing investment, reducing financial market distortions, boosting productivity in service sectors, improving social safety nets, and lifting constraints on demand growth."

On strengthening financial systems and facilitating finance for sustained growth:

"We committed to strengthen financial supervision to prevent the re-emergence in the financial system of excess credit growth and excess leverage and undertake macro prudential and regulatory policies to help prevent credit and asset price cycles from becoming forces of destabilisation."

On infrastructure:

"The infrastructure needs of the Asia-Pacific region over the next decade are expected to be some USD 750 billion a year, as economies replace aging infrastructure and build new infrastructure to keep pace with rapid economic development?

"...we noted the important role of the MDBs in helping economies upgrade necessary infrastructure in the region?"

"We welcomed the progress in implementing commercially viable infrastructure projects and practical public-private-partnership models to attract funding from private investors."

To view the 16th APEC Finance Minsters? Meeting Joint Ministerial Statement, go to: 
http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Finance/2009_finance.aspx



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Singapore, 12 November 2010 - APEC's Foreign and Trade Ministers have declared their intent to see that economic growth does not stall.

In a statement issued today, Ministers described a post-crisis environment in which "recovery remains fragile; the growth profile over the next few quarters is likely to be uneven. Unemployment remains unacceptably high in many of our economies."

In response, they determined to ""lay a foundation for growth that is inclusive, balanced and sustainable, supported by innovation and a knowledge-based economy, and anchored on APEC's core agenda to promote free and open trade and investment."

On inclusive growth

"First, we will facilitate structural adjustments that enhance opportunities for all to benefit from growth, focusing on facilitating SME development and enhancing the functioning of labour markets, while ensuring that these support enhanced opportunities for women and entrepreneurs. Second, we will strengthen social resilience, focusing on enhancing inpidual economic security and designing incentive-compatible social safety net programmes."

On promoting sustainable growth

"Anthropogenic climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world. As APEC's key response to addressing this challenge, our sustainable growth agenda will include improved access for Environmental Goods and Services (EGS), development of EGS sectors of APEC economies, enhancing energy efficiency and sustainable forest management and rehabilitation."

On resisting protectionism

"We remain concerned over the threat of protectionism to our economic recovery."

"We will continue to exercise maximum restraint in implementing measures that may be considered to be WTO consistent if they have a significant protectionist effect and promptly rectify such measures where implemented.

On open markets

"...evidence of an increasing use of trade remedies indicates that risks relating to protectionism and recovery remain."

"...the APEC region as a whole has remained relatively open to trade throughout the global crisis."

On World Trade Organisation Doha round negotiations

"We urge greater substantive engagement at all levels utilising all possible avenues, including text-based negotiations under the Geneva Chair-led process and direct engagement between Members to evaluate and close the remaining gaps... We direct our officials to exercise maximum flexibility in building a clear idea of the final package so Ministers can assess the situation no later than early 2010.

"We endorse the recommendations by the APEC Secretariat on specific areas for cooperation with the WTO, including greater collaboration in the Aid for Trade Agenda.

"We reiterate our support for the early accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO and underline the importance of efforts to expedite these negotiations."

To view the Joint Statement of the 21st APEC Ministerial Meeting, go to: 
http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Annual/2009/2009_amm.aspx



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Singapore, 15 November 2009 - Looking beyond recovery, say Leaders of 21 APEC economies, demands "a new growth paradigm and an expanded trade and investment agenda that will strengthen regional economic integration (REI) in the Asia-Pacific region."

Supporting balanced growth

"We support the goals of the G20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth." We join in their commitment to:

Work together to ensure that our macroeconomic, regulatory and structural policies are collectively consistent with more sustainable and balanced trajectories of growth."

Undertake macro prudential and regulatory policies to help prevent credit and asset price cycles from becoming forces of destabilisation."

Promote development and poverty reduction as part of the rebalancing of global growth."


Fostering inclusive growth

"...we will undertake structural adjustments that will enhance opportunities for all segments of our societies to benefit from growth."

Priority areas will include small and medium enterprises (SMEs); mobility of workers; and enhancing women's access to education, training, financing, technology and infrastructure.

"We will design social safety nets that provide short-term economic security but avoid long-term dependency."

Promoting sustainable growth

"We will ensure that economic growth in our region is consistent with sustainable development. Anthropogenic climate change is one of the biggest global challenges. It will impact each of our economies."

"A key thrust in APEC's sustainable growth agenda is the APEC Environmental Goods and Services (EGS) Work Programme, under which we will develop and implement a set of concrete actions to support sustainable growth in the region, advance work to increase utilisation and dissemination of EGS, reduce existing barriers and refrain from introducing new barriers to trade and investment in EGS, and enhance capabilities of economies to develop their EGS sectors. We also commit to rationalise and phase out over the medium term fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, while recognising the importance of providing those in need with essential energy services."

Resisting protectionism

"We reaffirm our commitment to keep markets open and refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services and instruct our Ministers to continue to regularly review our adherence to these commitments."

Supporting the multilateral trading system

"...the most effective means of dealing with protectionist pressures and delivering a global stimulus package to sustain and secure our recovery is an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in 2010... We are ready to exercise pragmatism and all possible flexibility and utilise all possible avenues in order to accelerate the pace of negotiations to secure convergence on a final package. We instruct our Ministers to work closely on what needs to be done to bring the DDA to a successful conclusion and to assess the situation no later than in early 2010."

Accelerating regional economic integration 
"We direct Ministers and officials to report to us next year with a meaningful assessment of the industrialised APEC economies' achievement of the Bogor Goals.

"We will continue to explore building blocks towards a possible Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in the future."

To view the complete Statement from the 17th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Singapore, 14 - 15 November, 2009, Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region, go to:
http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Leaders-Declarations/2009/2009_aelm.aspx



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Singapore, 15 November 2009 - "The post-crisis landscape will be different," say APEC Leaders. "We need a new growth paradigm. We need a fresh model of economic integration."

In a statement issued today, Leaders of 21 economies throughout the Asia-Pacific endorse the goals of the G20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth and declare their intent to "ensure a durable recovery that will create jobs and benefit our people."

Balanced growth

"Strong and sustained economic growth will require structural reforms to gradually unwind global imbalances and raise the potential output of our economies."

"We will ensure that our fiscal monetary, trade and structural policies are consistent with a more sustainable and balanced trajectory of growth, both within and across our economies."

"We will develop our financial markets to better serve the real economy."

Inclusive growth

"To achieve inclusive growth, we must broaden access to economic opportunities and build the resilience of the most vulnerable against economic shocks."

"We will help small and medium enterprises and women entrepreneurs gain better access to global markets and finance."

"We will facilitate worker retraining, skills upgrading, and domestic labour mobility."

"We will design social safety nets that provide short-term support but avoid long-term dependency."

Sustainable growth

"Future growth must be compatible with global efforts to mitigate climate change. At the same time, efforts to address climate change must be consistent with keeping trade and investment free and open."

"We will rationalise and phase out over the medium-term fossil fuel subsidies while providing those in need with essential energy services."

Connected Asia-Pacific

"We launched a pathfinder initiative led by Australia, Canada, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States to practice self-certification of origin so that businesses can better take advantage of free trade agreements in the region."

"We will strive to achieve by 2015 a collective 25 percent reduction in the cost, time, and number of procedures that our businesses face when starting a business, getting credit, enforcing contracts, dealing with permits, and trading across borders."

To view A New Growth Paradigm for a Connected Asia-Pacific in the 21st Century: Statement by APEC Leaders, Singapore, 14 - 15 November 2009, go to: 
http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Leaders-Declarations/2009/2009_aelm/aelm_growthparadigm.aspx



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Victoria, Australia, 9 February 2010 - Business leaders from the APEC region were exposed to some of the latest innovations in technology for heavy vehicles, when they received hands-on experience at the Australian Automotive Research Centre in Victoria this week.

Delegates from the APEC Business Advisory Council examined the newest ways to ensure road safety and improve efficiency.

Affecting trade, social safety and environmental sustainability; transport efficiency is an obvious priority to APEC member economies. Keeping abreast of technological developments within the transport industry enables decision-makers and influencers to design policies that are people and environment friendly.

For Lindsay Fox, Founder of Linfox, the logistics and supply chain company that owns the research centre, the issue is personal:

"Thousands of freight drivers die on roads in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand every year. We want to make sure that all drivers in the region make it home to their families at night."

Participants observed testing of an anti-collision system (which causes trucks to brake automatically if they get too close to the vehicle in front); a lane departure warning system (which causes an alarm to sound when they cross the lane marker); and anti-lock braking systems (which allow drivers to maintain control while braking heavily, especially on slippery road surfaces).

Linfox has long embraced the use of new and emerging technologies for heavy vehicles. In fact, says Fox, "the next stage in the battle against vehicle accidents can only be won with the use and adaptation of these technologies, both locally and across the Asia Pacific."

In addition, decision-makers examined hybrid trucks, which can reduce fuel consumption by up to 39 percent. A prime example, hybrid technology has helped Linfox to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent since 2007.

Insists Fox: "We must collectively encourage and support our [neighbours] in further examining these technologies and delivering safer and better environmental outcomes for their economies."



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As APEC members' progress on free and open trade undergoes assessment, APEC is also looking toward future goals. Results of the assessment, say insiders, are not a point of conclusion but a means of informing future action.

According to a declaration by APEC Leaders in Bogor, Indonesia in 1994, industrialised member economies should have achieved free and open trade by 2010, and developing economies by 2020. To this end, the progress of five economies (Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the USA) is currently being examined. An additional five economies (Chile, Hong Kong China, Mexico, Peru and Singapore) have volunteered to undergo early assessment, before their own target date of 2020.

APEC is determined that the assessment is both thorough and authentic so that findings can inform future target setting. Analysis therefore includes consultation with external parties such as the World Bank, the Asian Development bank and the wider business community.

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), a body comprising some of the region's most prominent heads of business, has therefore been examining progress in tariff reductions and economic freedom to trade and invest.

ABAC's review will also consider the first-hand experiences of people conducting business throughout the region. These individuals will assess progress in their own economy and share their thoughts on a direction for APEC in the next decade.

"We intend this study to be forward-looking and to include a broader assessment of where APEC is headed post-Bogor," says Tony Nowell, Chair of the ABAC Liberalisation Working Group and ABAC New Zealand member.

Speaking at the first meeting of ABAC members in 2010, he explained that, "for ABAC, the potential benefits of a free trade area of Asia-Pacific are clear, so this is something we will consider."

The ABAC report is to be delivered in Chinese Taipei in May 2010.



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To attract investors, economies have to think big. Economic sovereignty, say experts, is fast becoming a myth: we are now interdependent.

At their first meeting this year, APEC Senior Finance Officials considered ways to achieve new growth that is balanced, inclusive and sustainable. In dialogue with experts from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, delegates considered the challenges and opportunities in developed and developing economies.

If economies are to maintain the momentum of a relatively quick recovery, greater regional integration will be a major defining factor. This is particularly true for developing economies.

Explains Srinivasa Madhur, Senior Director, Office of Regional Economic Integration at the Asian Development Bank: "In general, Asian economies need to strengthen domestic consumption and increase investment."

However, he points out, middle income economies find themselves in a particular dilemma: "They experience pressure from below and above. Lower income economies offer cheaper goods and services; and higher income economies offer better goods and services." Add to that dynamic "low levels of investor confidence which can lead to a downward spiral."

According to the Asian Development Bank, economic communities are the way forward. Acting as a community both reduces economy-specific risks and increases opportunities for investors. "The investor doesn't want to see ten tiny markets. He wants one large production base. The size of the market will be much bigger, much more attractive."

"When we speak of Asian integration," says Mr. Madhur, "we mean regional-integration and global connection. APEC provides a platform for all of this to happen."

The comparatively swift recovery of the Asia-Pacific is largely attributable to unprecedented levels of cooperation among governments.

Other areas to be discussed throughout the year include aging and fiscal sustainability; green growth; and micro-finance. Outcomes will inform recommendations to be brought to APEC Leaders in November this year.

To view photographs, click here.



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Hiroshima, Japan, 22 February 2010 - Coming together for their first meeting in 2010, APEC Senior Officials must determine how best to realise their Leaders' instruction to develop growth strategies that are balanced, inclusive and sustainable.

Specifically, last November APEC Leaders declared, "We will put in place [in 2010] a comprehensive long-term growth strategy that supports more balanced growth within and across economies, achieves greater inclusiveness in our societies, sustains our environment, and which seeks to raise our growth potential through innovation and a knowledge-based economy."

The first APEC Senior Officials' Meeting will be instrumental in determining the agendas that will shape discussions throughout the year and which will lead to concrete actions in each economy.

Japan, the host economy for APEC 2010 has asserted three priority areas:
1. Devising a new growth strategy;
2. Promoting regional economic integration; and
3. Enhancing human security.

Topics likely to be discussed throughout the year include: the possibility of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific; services and investment liberalisation; increasing trade and investment in environmental goods and services; building the capacity of small and medium enterprises to engage in international trade; food security; supply chain connectivity; and others.

 

To learn more about the APEC 2010 Japan agenda, click here.

To view related photographs, click here:



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Hiroshima, Japan, 23 February 2010 - Chinese Taipei has contributed USD 1 million to APEC. Of this amount, half is directed toward human security and half toward energy efficiency and other environment-related projects.

Both human security and energy/environmental issues are priorities for APEC 2010 Japan.

Human security is fundamental to new economic growth. At the same time, APEC Economic Leaders have charged economies to ensure that growth is consistent with sustainable development.

Sharing information and experiences and building capacity will be a significant contributing factor in the ability of economies to fulfill this lofty mandate. And through this contribution, explains APEC Senior Official Mr. Paul Wen-Liang Chang, Chinese Taipei will support regional capacity building.

"Capacity-building has been a priority for APEC," says Ambassador Muhamad Noor, Executive Director at the APEC Secretariat. "And this year, one of our core objectives is to see that the benefits of globalisation are more widely shared - making capacity-building all the more critical."

In 2006, Chinese Taipei also donated USD 1 million to human security priorities including counter-terrorism and the promotion of secure trade, health security (including efforts to manage the pandemic influenza and HIV/AIDS), emergency preparedness and energy security.

To view photograph, click here.



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Officials next meet in Sapporo in May.

Food issues have been included in APEC priorities and activities for some time but, today, are more important than ever:

Two-thirds of the undernourished population in the world resides in the Asia-Pacific region and more than one third of them in APEC economies; APEC membership includes major players in international agricultural trade, both in exports and imports; Increased food demand attributed to population growth and changes in dietary patterns in the region could bring about instability in the balance of food supply and demand;

The extent of interdependence for food is increasing in the Asia-Pacific region due to expanded agricultural trade;

Some APEC economies have already experienced social instability - such as food protests and riots - during the food price spike in 2007 - 2008; and

Natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis that can affect food supply occur frequently in the Asia-Pacific region.

The first APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security will be held on 16-17 October in Niigata, Japan. An APEC Action Plan on Food Security will be developed during the meeting.



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Hiroshima, Japan, 25 February 2010 - Critical to protecting the regional economic system, the threat of terrorism is being taken very seriously by APEC member economies.

Apart from causing immediate harm, attacks or even the threat of attacks can lead to lost revenue and decrease investor confidence.

Evolving technology leads to more sophisticated security systems; but also creates new opportunities for criminal behaviour.

For example, explains Lonnie Kishiyama, International Operations, Office of Global Strategies, United States:

"The spectacular nature of a successful aviation attack continues to motivate terrorists to find ways around security measures."

In a meeting of the APEC Counter-Terrorism Taskforce (CTTF) today, members expressed determination to counter terrorist activity through concerted and holistic efforts.

Based on a summary of reports from APEC members last year, priority areas include:

Enhancing secure trade in the APEC region (ie. Protection of cargo, ships engaged in international voyages, international aviation, and people in transit, and combating threats to security);

Halting terrorist financing; and

Promoting cyber security.

In 2010, each economy will review and update its Counter-Terrorism Action Plan. These plans will be shared among members as a means to exchange best practices; coordinate international response systems more closely; and identify needs for capacity-building.

Seminars on current and emerging trends in money laundering and terrorism financing are scheduled to take place in Bangkok, 12 - 14 May and 22 - 24 September.

The Unites States will host the Second Air Cargo Experts' Workshop, with a view to enhancing air cargo supply chain security this spring.

Key areas of focus for APEC 2010 include: regional economic integration, new economic growth and human security. To this end, the APEC Counter-Terrorism Task Force strengthens and coordinates regional efforts to ensure human and trade security.

The next meeting of the CTTF will take place in Sapporo, Japan in May.



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Hiroshima, Japan, 28 February 2010 - Employees must be able to adapt to new work environments; the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group is emphatic.

"The world is changing quickly as a result of the global economic situation and developments in information/telecommunication technology. This is not a temporary state of affairs," explains the group Chair, Dr. Alan Ginsburg, at the close of an HRDWG meeting today.

"The nature of work is changing. Some jobs are becoming obsolete; other jobs are being created and many of these are in areas that did not exist before. In order to ensure inclusive growth, education and training must be life-long. And this must be reflected in government planning and policy."

Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Chair, Dr. Charles Morrison notes that recent demographic shifts will lead to increased requirements for staff and new areas of expertise. He cites as examples:

Greater demand for tertiary education

Growing elderly population

Pressures on resources and the environment

New infectious diseases and pandemics

Chronic conditions and diseases associated with age and lifestyle changes

Capacity-building has always been an important component of APEC. Free trade increases opportunity; and capacity-building enables people to access those opportunities. Today, capacity-building is critical.

In 2009, APEC Leaders directed member economies to ensure that new economic growth would be balanced, inclusive, sustainable and knowledge-based. This has given capacity-building activities strategic urgency.

An APEC Human Resources Ministerial Meeting is scheduled to take place 16 ? 17 September in Beijing, China and will build on the work and recommendations of the HRDWG to date. Discussions will focus on:

Maintaining and expanding employment and adopting employment-oriented macro-economic policies;

Improving social safety nets and reinforcing social protection and employment assistance for vulnerable groups; and

Enhancing human resources capacity building and preparing the workforce to revitalise economic growth.

Ministers are expected to endorse a multi-year strategic plan.



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Hiroshima, Japan, 3 March 2010 - The number of days it takes to start a business can have a direct impact on economic growth, says the World Bank.

According to Yara Salem, Private Sector Development Specialist at the World Bank, simple streamlining of processes can have a dramatic impact on economic performance:

"On average, reducing business-related processes by ten days leads to a 0.4 percent economic growth. For some it is even more. For Singapore, reducing the cost of starting a business has increased economic growth by about one percent and for Peru by 2.57 percent."

In addition, she says, making it easier to start a company can also have a positive impact on employment. She notes, as an example, the dramatic 28 percent increase in the number of businesses registered in Viet Nam following reforms in 2005.

Of course, economies should not stop at registration processes. The benefits of one-dimensional reform are easily undone. Salem specifies that to achieve enduring results demands coordination among institutions:

"You don't want people just to register businesses. You also want them to pay taxes, protect workers and know about the services that exist to help them. You want to analyse the results and monitor them."

Mexico is an excellent example of an economy that has created a synergy among agencies so that businesses can follow procedures at a "one-stop shop." A reduction of red tape has led to a five percent increase in newly registered companies and employment growth of almost three percent.

According to Salem, the five most important things that economies can do to increase the ease of establishing a business are:

Provide one-stop shop service: reduce the number of offices a business must visit to establish itself legally.

Simplify registration formalities: make the process easier and make it purely administrative.

Introduce or improve online processes so that they are interlinked.

Simplify post-registration procedures at local levels.

Abolish minimum capital requirements.

Only five out of APEC's 21 members maintain minimal capital requirements for starting a business and APEC economies account for five of the ten world economies in which it is easiest to start a business. These economies have standardised forms that are simple and in which answers are not subject to interpretation. Registration fees are fixed and there is a very simple publication requirement to announce the creation of new companies.

These topics were discussed by regional policy-makers and international experts at this week's Ease of Doing Business Seminar, organised by the APEC Economic Committee.

As per the direction of APEC Leaders, economies are developing strategies for growth that is balanced, inclusive, sustainable and knowledge-based. Specifically, they aim to create conditions that are conducive to business and which, by extension, lead to increased employment and economic growth. Trade facilitation is one of APEC's fundamental goals and APEC economies continue to address barriers to trade, including the time, cost and frustration associated with starting and operating a business.



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Singapore, 15 March 2010 - Today, in a ceremony at the APEC Secretariat, representatives of the APEC Singapore 2009 Organising Committee installed a time capsule that conserves the spirit of APEC Singapore 2009.

Hosting APEC means more than just organising a get-together for world leaders. It means planning and coordinating scores of events. With 123 separate events held over the course of the year, hosting APEC 2009 turned out to be an island-wide affair for Singapore.

APEC turned 20 in 2009 against the backdrop of one of the greatest economic downturns in recent history. Still, APEC Leaders came together and renewed their commitments to keep protectionist measures at bay and to position the region for recovery. In fact, the crisis showed just what APEC could do to ameliorate the situation: accelerate regional economic integration and continue to advance the free and open trade and investment agenda.

40 public agencies, 330 private sector companies and 20,000 individuals contributed planning, logistical and administrative support. Among the 1,000 volunteers were a 15-year old student and a 61-year old retiree, both of whom assisted the international delegates.

Over the course of the year, more than 14,000 delegates from across the Asia-Pacific travelled to Singapore. Of course, for those living in the city, this meant a little inconvenience getting around - slow traffic, congested streets and heavy security. But for many, hosting APEC - or, to a degree, hosting the world - meant the opportunity to let their heart show.

A total of 376 local artistes performed for the region's Economic Leaders in musical and interactive performances that showcased Singapore's cultural diversity. Set against an iconic architecture and waterfront landscape, APEC delegates also experienced the island's culinary diversity and savoured a wide range of local foods from the different ethnic groups that make up Singapore. Projecting the economy as a vibrant and welcoming host, the events highlighted Singapore's multicultural history, love for fine cuisine and friendly graciousness.

To preserve these memories, on 11 December 2009, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sealed a time capsule containing APEC 2009 memorabilia. In today's ceremony attended by Ambassador Muhamad Noor, Executive Director the APEC Secretariat, Ms Koh Lin-Net, Chair of the APEC Singapore 2009 Organising Committee, and other delegates, the capsule was installed at the APEC Secretariat, which is permanently based in Singapore. The capsule will remain sealed until Singapore next hosts APEC.



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Washington DC, United States, 29 March 2010 - APEC Senior Official, Kurt Tong discusses APEC and priorities for 2011, when APEC will be hosted by the United States:

QUESTION: What is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and why is it important for America?

MR. TONG: Well, as you know, the Asia-Pacific region is the most dynamic economic region on the planet. It accounts for more than half of the global GDP, and more than 60 percent of our exports go to the Asia-Pacific. Now within the region, APEC is the most important economic organization. It has all the key members participating, and the most important initiatives in the region take place either through APEC or are created within APEC.

Now, our top priority in APEC is the removal of barriers to trade and investment, to create more opportunities for more jobs and more exports from the United States.

QUESTION: What is APEC doing to address the current economic concerns of the American people?

MR. TONG: 2009 clearly was not a good year for the US economy or for many of the economies of the Asia-Pacific region, so it's really important that APEC play an important role in promoting growth and recovery in the Asia-Pacific region. That's really our short-term focus. But taking a longer view, it's important to create a paradigm for growth in the Asia-Pacific region which will lead to long-term and sustainable growth and thus benefit the United States.

QUESTION: What are some themes APEC will address in 2010?

MR. TONG: I think we'll be putting particular emphasis here on small and medium enterprise development, worker retraining, and job creation - again, within small and medium enterprises. APEC has a real capability to have the economies of the region learning from each other and studying each other's best practices to figure out how they can do a better job of adjusting to economic change in ways that workers and small or medium enterprises keep up with that change.

Another really important area is in the area of the environment. I think that in 2010, we'll be working hard to continue the Peer Review on Energy Efficiency. This is a program to make sure that the APEC economies learn from each other and are basically convinced by each other to improve their energy efficiency through - by reviewing what they've done so far.

A final area which I'd like to mention is ease of doing business. APEC took a pledge last year to make doing business cheaper, faster, in the Asia-Pacific region and set specific targets for that improvement: a five percent within - by 2011 and 25 percent improvement in the speed and ease of doing business in the region by 2015, so we'll be working hard to implement those programs and make the policy changes in all the APEC economies to make that happen.

QUESTION: What priorities will the U.S. focus on when hosting in 2011?

MR. TONG: First of all, I should note that we'll be hosting the leaders meeting in Hawaii. There will be several meetings throughout the year taking place in different American cities leading up to that session in Hawaii. But throughout the year, we'll be, again, pushing themes of job creation and structural adjustment of the economies in the Asia-Pacific region. We'll also be pushing promotion of trade opportunities by reducing barriers to trade and investment around the region. 
The real key there is to get the understanding of our Asia-Pacific partners and have them really understand why it's to their benefit as well as to ours to have those barriers removed. We have a good track record of this kind of work at APEC. We will work very, very hard on it in 2011. And really, hosting the event, where the United States has an opportunity to set the agenda for the year and describe what the outcome should be and bring everyone on board is a very historic opportunity for the United States, and we're very excited about the potential.

To see the video, produced by the US Department of State, go to: http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2010/03/138967.htm



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Japan and the United States, as the hosts of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2010 and 2011, are cooperating closely to achieve substantive outcomes that will contribute to the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. Together with the other APEC economies, our two governments are working closely to push forward on regional economic integration, taking a practical and concrete approach. We are also cooperating in the design of a new growth paradigm for the region, to promote growth which is more balanced, inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and knowledge-based. We are determined to take the lead in ensuring that APEC continues to serve as a driving force for economic prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.

Japan and the United States look forward to working together with the other APEC economies to inspire new ideas for cooperation and to generate concrete outcomes. Today, Secretary Clinton and Foreign Minister Okada agreed to work together bilaterally on several signature initiatives that will support broader APEC outcomes, with a particular emphasis on human security:

We will work together to ensure that APEC plans and implements specific and significant actions aimed at sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and food availability, and facilitating agriculture-related trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

We will organize a Women's Entrepreneurship Summit to address policy, human resources and financing issues, thereby galvanizing the Asia-Pacific region to unleash the potential of women as entrepreneurs and business leaders.

We will cooperate in addressing climate change by exploring opportunities to help economies in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly small island economies, to be better prepared to adapt to the likely impact of climate change.

We will cooperate to enhance emergency preparedness in the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on public-private partnerships and networking among experts, building on the outcomes of the Fourth APEC Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum in Kobe in January 2010, and deepening discussions at the Fifth Forum in the United States in 2011.

Beyond these measures, as APEC hosts in 2010 and 2011, Japan and the United States are working closely together to enhance the operations of the APEC organization, with an eye toward improving accountability and efficiency, and ensuring that projects and activities are closely linked to core APEC priorities.



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Lombok, Indonesia, 6 May 2010 - Re-energizing the work that supports Leaders' directions will be a major focus for APEC's Tourism Working Group as it embarks on drafting a Strategic Plan for the Group.

The TWG agreed to identify interest areas with a view to initiating a strategic approach to facilitate the development of the travel and tourism industry in the Asia-Pacific region. Top priorities are to develop better communication with private and business sector, strengthen multilateral engagement and to increase work on cross cutting issues within other fora.

The Group discussed the issues associated with APEC's Growth Strategy and other 2010 priorities as a means to develop concrete recommendations and achieve a robust outcome for the forthcoming 6th Tourism Ministerial Meeting.

Economic growth and sustainability have been on-going priorities for the Tourism Working Group.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the industry accounts for one in every 13.1 jobs in the world and the ratio is projected to increase in the immediate term. Moreover, APEC members have recognised community-based tourism as a way to increase the flow of revenue from urban centres to rural areas.

In 2008, Tourism Ministers agreed to promote the conservation and preservation of the environment and sustainability has been a predominant feature on the TWG agenda since then.

2010 Tourism Working Group projects include promoting the involvement of local communities in managing rural tourism and the use of clean technologies as a source of energy for hostels.



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Singapore, 11 June 2009 - Today a delegation headed by the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, Ambassador Michael Tay, is travelling to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat in Jakarta to meet with the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Surin Pitsuwan, and his staff.

"Both APEC and ASEAN share a common goal, which is to accelerate economic and social development in our members. By exchanging information on what we do to reach this goal we hope to identify areas where collaboration between APEC and ASEAN can generate genuine and practical benefits", said Ambassador Tay.

Ambassador Tay also highlighted the importance of cooperation given the current environment, "Our members are facing threats that they cannot tackle alone, such as economic recession, health pandemics and climate change. Now more than ever regional bodies like APEC and ASEAN have an essential role to play in developing policies and programs that help restore growth and combat disease and environmental damage."

In addition to the high level meeting between Ambassador Tay and Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwam, staff from APEC and ASEAN are meeting to establish professional working relationships in specialty areas.

Representatives from APEC's Project Management Unit will meet with the ASEAN Secretariat's Strategic and Planning Division on Project Management to share best practices and new methodologies for the development of capacity building projects that best suit the needs of their developing economy members.

Other areas of joint interest to be explored include: small and medium enterprises; supply chain connectivity; single window; standards and conformance; health and communicable diseases; and disaster management and humanitarian assistance.

About APEC

APEC works to facilitate economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Its 21 member economies are: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America and Viet Nam.

ASEAN is one of three official observers in APEC.

About ASEAN

The aims and purposes of ASEAN are to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to promote regional peace and stability. Its 10 member economies are: Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao PDR; Malaysia; Myanmar; the Philippines; Singapore; Thailand and Vietnam.



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Singapore, 14 July 2009 - "Growth strategies of the future must take account of climate change," says Ravi Menon, 2009 Chair for APEC Senior Officials.

As members of government and academic spheres assemble at the APEC Climate Symposium (13 - 15 July), the resounding consensus is that climate change is a central social, economic and political issue.

"This is global warming's Tipping Point," says Michael H. Glantz, Director of the Consortium for Capacity Building, explaining that the once-debated concept of climate change is now widely acknowledged to produce quite dramatic effects. "By the end of the century, this may be declared the Climate Century because everything we do, every decision we make is in response."

Evidence of increased global warming can be seen throughout the entire Asia-Pacific and this compounds the effects of the global economic crisis - particularly for developing economies. Enabling economies to anticipate and adapt to climate change is therefore fundamental to economic recovery and sustainable growth.

APEC 2009, says Menon, will "address the issue of how we can make growth more inclusive" and has cited climate change among the challenges to be addressed as APEC shapes strategies for post-crisis growth.

This comes in the lead-up to meetings of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade, and after the failure of last week's G8 Summit to garner the commitment of the world's largest developing economies to specific emission goals.

The APEC Climate Symposium will contribute to a Global Framework of Climate Services to be agreed at the World Climate Conference 3 as well as to year-end negotiations at the Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009.



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Singapore, 12 June 2009 - As part of their ongoing fight against terrorism, APEC economies came together in Sydney this week to identify further measures to prevent the illicit movement of cash across borders to fund terrorist activities.

The four-day workshop, co-hosted by Australia and the United States, was designed to assist Asia-Pacific financial intelligence units, border control agencies and law enforcement agencies to detect and prevent the smuggling of cash between APEC economies.

"Illicit cash smuggling is a major method for terrorists, as well as drug traffickers and other criminal elements to move currency across borders. Cash couriers have played a role in several key terrorist attacks, including the 2002 bombings in Bali and the 2003 attack on the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta", explained Edgard Kagan, Economic Counsellor at the US Embassy in Canberra.

The smugglers hide cash on or in their bodies and in vehicles, commercial shipments, express packages, luggage, private aircraft and boats. They are also developing new tactics such as Stored Value and Pre-Paid cards which are compact, easily transportable and potentially anonymous ways to store and access cash.

The importance to the region of stamping out these activities was highlighted by Quinton Devlin, Australia's representative to the APEC Counter-Terrorism Task Force, "APEC's gains in terms of freer trade, regional economic integration and structural reform, which have led to economic growth and prosperity, can be lost or severely undermined by natural, accidental or deliberate disruptions to trade and investment."

Over 80 participants from 19 APEC economies and Cambodia participated in a series of practical exercises and case studies, including a visit to Sydney International Airport to see efforts to detect cash couriering and bulk cash smuggling at the border first-hand.

Participants also reviewed progress made since the first APEC workshop on the topic, held in Manila in December 2008. Based on the lessons learned in that workshop a number of economies have since established inter-agency information sharing agreements and illicit cash smuggling task forces.



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Singapore, 15 July 2009 - "The Philippines is coping well in the existing global economic crisis and has made significant economic progress." So says the report of external analysts, documenting progress of the Philippines toward APEC's Bogor Goals.

According to the same report, since its last review in 2005:

"The Philippines has progressively reduced tariff levels and eliminated non-tariff measures. Notable improvements were achieved in standards and conformance, customs rules and regulations, and the mobility of business people. Various structural policy reforms have supported enhanced domestic competition, the growth of the market economy and private sector development."

The report concludes that while there remain some challenges to achieving goals in services and investment, there is generally strong evidence of commitment.

The Bogor Goals are that free trade and investment in the APEC region should be established by 2010 in developed economies and by 2020 in developing economies.

Peer Reviews are conducted by independent, external review teams on a rotating basis and draw from the information found in economies' most recent Individual Action Plans, reports issued by the World Trade Organisation and academic studies pertaining to the economy under review.

A synopsis of the Peer Review can be found at: 
http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_Philippines_FINAL.ashx

The complete report will be made available at the close of the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting on 19 July at: 
http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_Philippines.ashx





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Russia moving toward a more market-based economy, say analysts

Singapore, 15 July 2009

"Russia is attempting to create a new economy," according to analysts reviewing the economy's progress toward achieving Bogor Goals. The New Russia, they say, will be less bureaucratic, more market-based and more internationally competitive in general.

While the effects of the financial crisis have been a particular challenge to Russia, government has made noted efforts to "mitigate the impact and lift the economy out of recession."

Of particular interest to APEC member economies, the report continues, "are the ambitious plans to develop Siberia and the Russian Far East," by harnessing natural and geographical advantages of this vast region. The development of the region's infrastructure and integrating it more closely with the European part of the economy will be an essential first step. And improved transportation links with neighbouring economies such as China, Japan and Korea area will provide even greater scope for trade and for joint industrial ventures.

The Bogor Goals are that free trade and investment in the APEC region should be established by 2010 in developed economies and by 2020 in developing economies.

Peer Reviews are conducted by independent, external review teams on a rotating basis and draw from the information found in economies' most recent Individual Action Plans, reports issued by the World Trade Organisation and academic studies pertaining to the economy under review.

A synopsis of the Peer Review may be found at: 
http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_Russia_FINAL.ashx

The complete report will be made available at the close of the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting on 19 July at: 
http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_Russia.ashx

News photos are available at:http://www.apec.org/Press/Photos/2009/20090715_iap_russia.aspx



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Singapore, 15 July 2009 - "Papua New Guinea has made important progress in implementing the Bogor Goals," says a team of independent analysts.

This statement was made in an external review of the economy's ability to reach APEC's Bogor Goals, presented to officials today. Having reduced tariffs, says the team, will contribute substantively to Papua New Guinea's ability to reach its commitments by 2020.

According to the same report, Papua New Guinea has made notable efforts in promoting liberalisation and facilitation in the services sector - most notably in telecommunication, legal, tourism and energy services. Progress has also been made in standards and conformance and customs procedures. The team also applauds efforts to improve regulatory transparency and to combat corruption.

The Bogor Goals are that free trade and investment in the APEC region should be established by 2010 in developed economies and by 2020 in developing economies.

Peer Reviews are conducted by independent, external review teams on a rotating basis and draw from the information found in economies' most recent Individual Action Plans, reports issued by the World Trade Organisation and academic studies pertaining to the economy under review.

A synopsis of the Peer Review may be found at: 
http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_PNG_FINAL.ashx

The complete report will be made available at the close of the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting on 19 July at: 
http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_PNG.ashx

Photographs may be found at: http://www.apec.org/Press/Photos/2009/20090715_iap_png.aspx 



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Singapore, 15 July 2009 - APEC officials are currently considering progress of members in trade liberalization and facilitation. Specifically, Russia, Papua New Guinea, Viet Nam and the Philippines will be subject to rigorous assessment of seventeen key policy areas affecting trade environments.

Similar exercises are conducted on a rotating basis as economies review and scrutinize the Individual Action Plans (IAPs) of their counterparts. IAPs outline progress made toward achieving the goals set out in the Bogor Declaration of 1994. This declaration established a target of free trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies; and these goals were adopted by all APEC economies.

To ensure consistent progress, the studies are conducted by independent review teams who also consider reports issued by the World Trade Organisation and studies published by experts who have also assessed the economies in question. During the Peer Review session, findings and analysis are discussed openly among members and subsequently made available to the public.

Summaries of the four most recent IAP Peer Reviews conducted and cited here will be made available at the close of each peer review, respectively:

Papua New Guinea: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_PNG_FINAL.ashx   (available today)
Philippines: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_Philippines_FINAL.ashx (available today)
Russia: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_Russia_FINAL.ashx (available today)
Viet Nam: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_Viet_Nam_FINAL.ashx (available 16 July)

Complete reports will be made available on 19 July 2009 at:

Papua New Guinea: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_PNG.ashx 
Philippines: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_Philippines.ashx
Russia: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_Russia.ashx
Viet Nam: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_Viet_Nam.ashx



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Singapore, 16 July 2009 - Viet Nam is "making a decisive escape from poverty."

In an independent assessment of Viet Nam's ability to meet it's commitment to achieve Bogor Goals by 2020, analysts cite a rise in living standards and marked reform since adoption of the doi moi strategy in 1986. And "joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007 is a highlight of such achievements."

Overall, the Vietnamese "economy grew by 7.8 percent each year, from 2002 to 2007; and exports grew more than threefold from 2003 to 2008 - a growth rate of over 25 percent per year. Trade-led growth has come from the private sector and since 1986 the number of state-owned enterprises has been reduced dramatically."

"Since late 2008, the economy has been seriously affected by the global financial crisis which has damaged most of Viet Nam's export markets. Nevertheless, the Government is determined to adhere to its outward-looking development strategy and to sustain its program of reducing and eliminating impediments to international trade and investment."

The Bogor Goals are that free trade and investment in the APEC region should be established by 2010 in developed economies and by 2020 in developing economies.

Peer Reviews are conducted by independent, external review teams on a rotating basis and draw from the information found in economies' most recent Inpidual Action Plans, reports issued by the World Trade Organisation and academic studies pertaining to the economy under review.

A synopsis of the Peer Review may be found at: http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/IAP_Brief_Viet_Nam_FINAL.ashx

The complete report will be made available at the close of the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting on 19 July at: 
http://www.apec.org/Press/News-Releases/2009/~/media/Files/Press/NewsRelease/2009/2009SOM2_IAP_PeerReviewFull_Viet_Nam.ashx

News photos may be found at: http://www.apec.org/Press/Photos/2009/20090716_iap_viet_nam.aspx



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Singapore, 17 July 2009 - With energy security and climate change emerging as two very real challenges to economic growth, Japan has contributed JPY 120,000,000 (approximately USD 1.3 million) to promote energy efficiency activities throughout the APEC region.

According to the Japanese Senior APEC Official, Makoto Shiotoa, "This sum is specifically directed toward the development and implementation of energy efficiency policies, goals and action plans in APEC economies."

Such activities could include but would not be limited to: research of policies, practices and potential for energy efficiency improvement in APEC; vehicles for disseminating project outcomes; and the APEC Peer Review on Energy Efficiency, whereby efficiency policies are reviewed and compiled as a means of information-sharing.

"This fund is a very practical way to assist members to meet their commitments and maximise efficiency," explains APEC Executive Director, Michael Tay.

"The implementation of energy efficiency measures effectively pays for itself, through long-term reductions in energy costs. Many APEC economies would therefore benefit by developing clear goals and action plans toward optimum energy efficiency."

While the existing global crisis underlines the urgency of addressing climate change, initiatives are the result of commitments made by APEC Leaders in 2007. The Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development states that "economic growth, energy security and climate change are fundamental and interlinked challenges" to the APEC region and emphasizes "the importance of improving energy efficiency by working towards achieving an APEC-wide regional aspirational goal of a reduction in energy intensity of at least 25 per cent by 2030 (with 2005 as the base year)."

To view the Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development in full, go to:

Full Report - Sydney APEC Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development

Japan's contribution will be distributed through the APEC Support Fund, designated to enhance capacity-building activities.

 



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Singapore, 20 July 2009 - As part of Singapore's effort to strengthen the Multilateral Trading System, Singapore will be launching a series of capacity building programmes. Valued at USD 400,000, these programmes will cover specific priority areas such as trade facilitation, services and the WTO for APEC economies over the next 3 years.

Singapore will also be hosting and contributing to the upcoming PECC-SINPECC Conference from 5-7 October. The theme of the Conference is "Economic Crisis and Recovery: Enhancing Resilience, Structural Reform and Freer Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region".

 



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Singapore 22 July 2009 - After two days of discussion, APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade have declared their intention to "ensure that the benefits of globalisation are spread more widely across our societies and that our growth strategies are consistent with sustainable development."

The complete Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade, Statement of the Chair (21 - 22 July 2009) may be found at: http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Trade/2009_trade.aspx

 



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Singapore, 21 July 2009 - At the close of a two-day meeting (21 - 22 July) in Singapore, APEC Trade Ministers outlined their response to issues affecting economic recovery and long-term growth.

The complete Statement on Addressing the Economic Crisis and Positioning for Recovery may be accessed at: http://www.apec.org/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Trade/2009_trade/2009_mrt_standalone1.aspx



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Singapore, 22 July 2009 - The World Trade Organisation has launched its annual World Trade Report at an APEC forum, just hours after APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade declared their "determination to uphold and strengthen the rules-based multilateral trading system."

With WTO economists forecasting a decline in world merchandise by 10 percent in 2009, WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy, who was present during the APEC Trade Ministers' Meetings (21 - 22 July) explains that:

"This adversity is severely testing the policy ingenuity of governments across the globe, and in today's interdependent world, their willingness to make common cause in addressing shared challenges. Effective international cooperation and open markets are as vital today as they have ever been."

This year's Report, World Trade Report 2009: Trade Policy Commitments and Contingency Measures examines various trade agreement measures used by governments in times of crisis, their implications to an economy and to the trading system, at large.

The challenge, according to the report, is in "designing disciplines for the use of contingency measures is to strike a balance between flexibility and commitments. Too much flexibility may undermine the value of commitments but too little may render the rules unsustainable."

Says Director-General Pascal Lamy in his introductory comments:

"The topic for this year's World Trade Report is highly relevant to the challenge of ensuring that the channels of trade remain open in face of economic adversity. Well-balanced contingency measures, designed primarily to deal with a variety of unanticipated market situations, are key to the effectiveness and the stability of trade agreements and to avoiding high intensity protectionism."

Last year, APEC Leaders committed to refrain from implementing any WTO inconsistent measures in any area. Ministers have since pledged to resist any forms of protectionism that impede competition and market efficiency, to notify the WTO of any measures that fall short of those commitments and to work with partners to strengthen WTO capabilities to undertake regular monitoring.

The report can be downloaded here: http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/wtr09_e.htm

 



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Issued by the APEC Secretariat

Singapore, 24 July 2009 - Just days after APEC declared intentions that economic growth be "inclusive", experts from across the region gathered to apply the principle to the mining industry.

Members of the APEC Mining Taskforce are preparing a report for submission to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). This report will review mining sector performance in APEC, including analysis of the current status of sustainable development in mining; short- and long-term challenges and opportunities; and the main economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainable development.

The once-robust mining industry had experienced rapid growth in direct relation to high levels of investment in the years preceding the recent economic downturn. Many look to re-emerging players to act as "locomotives" to reinvigorate the sector.

The high cost of commodities including metals in 2005 - 2008 had disparate affects in developing economies and their approach to resource development. In addition, the price of commodities precipitated a scramble for resources throughout the same period.

According to Dr. Graeme Hancock, Senior Mining Specialist at the Oil, Gas and Mining Policy pision at the World Bank, a guest at the recently held Conference on Sustainable Development of Mining in APEC:

"The emergence of new investors means that greater attention is needed to put in place an effective minerals policy framework to promote sustainable development, especially in "new" mining countries."

Earlier this week, APEC Trade Ministers declared their intent to "ensure that the benefits of globalisation are spread more widely across our societies" and that "growth strategies are consistent with sustainable development."

They specifically noted the importance of today's Conference on Sustainable Development of Mining in APEC, which they anticipate will "contribute to efforts in achieving sustainable growth in the region."

Sustainable Mining Development can be defined as that which is financially viable, takes place in an environmentally and socially responsible manner and with sound governance that provides benefits that last beyond the life of the mine to the communities where mineral development, production and transportation take place.



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Singapore, 31 July 2009 - Singapore has hosted the Seventh Secure Trade in the APEC Region (STAR VII) Conference (held 30 - 31 July, 2009 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel). Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education Mr S. Iswaran, the Guest-of-Honour at STAR VII delivered the keynote address.

This year's theme, "Enhancing Trade Security and Economic Resilience", focused on the need for businesses and industries to develop a security culture within their business model. Businesses were encouraged to not only look upon security as an important business process but to also see security as a competitive advantage.

More than 20 speakers from international organisations such as the World Customs Organisation, academia, government agencies and the private sector were invited to speak at the Conference. The event is drew more than 250 private sector representatives and government officials.

At the Conference, both the public and private sectors, especially those from the logistics and supply chain industries, discussed ways to enhance and tighten security processes and to strengthen the supply chain system against the threat of terrorism. Conference participants were encouraged to exchange views on how stakeholders in the international supply chain can cooperate to minimise the possibility of terrorist attacks on the supply chain and to ensure that international trade flows recover quickly should such an attack occur.

The Conference also aimed to help regulatory authorities and industry players build capacities and resilience to reduce and minimise the impact of a terrorist attack. The recovery process is critical for trade flows to quickly resume in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Conference participants discussed measures that inpidual stakeholders in the supply chain can adopt to secure the supply chain while facilitating trade.

The programme included an industry visit to PSA Singapore's Keppel DistriPark to view security measures at the FPS Global Logistics warehouse. This visit provided conference participants with a real life view of the security measures that were discussed during the conference.

Issued by the Ministry of Transport, Singapore



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Singapore, 5 August 2009 - "For the poor and particularly for women of our region, there are some tough times ahead," Dr. Noleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific (ESCAP) cautioned a largely female audience at the APEC Women Leaders Network today.

While women have emerged as what she calls the flexible labour force par excellence, "their entry into the workplace has also coincided with trends towards outsourcing and subcontracting; relegating women's jobs to the informal sector without any job security or benefits. The inherent risks of this positioning are now becoming apparent as the economic crisis unfolds."

According to estimates from the International Labour Organisation, an additional 9 million women in the region will become unemployed in 2009, bringing the total number of unemployed women to an approximate 38 million this year.

And while there are signs of early economic recovery, she says, experience shows that real wages take an average of three years to recover and employment growth does not return to pre-crisis levels for several years after that. In developing economies - and in spite of the robust gains of recent years - important gains made over the last ten years could effectively be undone.

Still, the news is not all bad, insists Heyzer, who believes the crisis can be used as an opportunity, deeming the APEC region "the epicentre of economic growth."

According to ESCAP research, she says, "our [APEC] region loses between USD 42 and 47 billion dollars a year by restricting women's access to employment" and "up to USD 17 billion dollars a year are lost in the region due to gender gaps in education."

For most economies in the Asia-Pacific, women are an untapped resource and, conversely, represent potential for economic recovery and growth.

This, she says, can be achieved through gender sensitive fiscal stimulus packages; promotion of intra-regional trade; improved access of girls and women to education and training; increased corporate social responsibility and commitment to equitable pay.

Read Dr. Heyzer's entire speech at:
http://www.apec.org/Press/Speeches/2009/0805_wln_heyzer.aspx



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Singapore, 27 August 2010 - Key business leaders of the Asia Pacific region have agreed that it is now time for APEC to take more decisive actions towards establishing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in view of the financial crisis and the stalled Doha Round negotiations. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) met in Da Nang to finalize their recommendations to APEC Leaders prior to their dialogue in the November APEC Economic Leaders Meeting.

ABAC members expressed caution about signs of the economic recovery and urged Leaders to take steps to ensure that this is sustained. They believe that this can be done if economies resist protectionism, promote global demand rather than just domestic and that they take the opportunity to undertake economic reforms. And that setting a firm timeframe for bringing a FTAAP into reality would send a very strong signal about APEC's commitment to accelerating the integration of their economies.

"We believe that APEC is in a position to be the champion of free and open trade. Our vision of a FTAAP would not just cover trade but encompass services, investments and behind-the-border issues of concern to business. We see it as an instrument for bringing about inclusive growth where no one is left behind." said Mr. Teng Theng Dar, the ABAC Chair of 2009.

ABAC also sees the successful conclusion of the Doha Round no later than 2010 as not only providing a major stimulus to global trade and investments but also to deal effectively with persisting protectionism.

Recognizing the upcoming negotiations in Copenhagen in December for an agreement on climate change, ABAC called on the Leaders to empower their negotiators to conclude a meeting with an agreement that provides business with a predictable and stable environment in which they operate. The business leaders are also developing their recommendations on key issues of critical interest to Leaders including climate change, energy, food security and the impact of demographic trends on the availability of labor.

In a separate communications to APEC Finance Ministers, ABAC urged more dialogue on regulatory changes regarding capital requirements and financial reforms.

About ABAC

ABAC brings together up to three business leaders appointed by each of their Leaders of the APEC's 21 economies. They provide APEC Leaders with information regarding the priorities and concerns of the business sector in the region.

 



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Singapore, 27 August 2009 - Meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam on August 24-28, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) urged the G-20 Finance Ministers to delay changes in regulatory capital requirements until global economic recovery is assured. This is important to avoid restricting lending at a time when it is most needed to fuel economic activity.

In a letter urging APEC Finance Ministers to communicate its views to the G-20, ABAC recommended that such changes be undertaken in dialogue with the private sector. In addition, they should form part of a comprehensive financial reform package that addresses risk management and corporate governance practices, among others.

ABAC also urged governments to carefully implement and coordinate exit strategies from emergency fiscal and monetary measures taken in response to the crisis, in view of their huge scale and impact on the real economy and financial markets.

The Council reiterated its firm and continued support for the work of the G-20 on financial reforms. ABAC expressed its satisfaction with current efforts to promote activity-based regulation and central clearinghouses for credit default swaps, which it proposed in its previous report.

ABAC members will discuss these and other recommendations during their dialogue with finance ministers and leaders of APEC's 21 member economies this coming November in Singapore.

About ABAC

ABAC was established by the APEC Economic Leaders in November 1995 in response to a call for a private sector body that could advise them on matters of primary importance to business in the region. It brings together up to three business leaders from each of APEC's 21 economies.



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Consumer product safety standards and practices in the Asia-Pacific region will be the subject of a capacity building workshop to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 10-12 November 2008.

The Leaders of APEC's 21 member economies made it a priority in their 2007 Declaration "to develop a more robust approach to strengthening food and consumer product safety standards and practices in the region, using scientific risk-based approaches and without creating unnecessary impediments to trade."

The workshop will bring together key stakeholder groups from government and the private sector in consumer product safety, standards and practices. Participants include industry, regulators, manufacturers, importers and consumer organisations.

The broad objective of the workshop is to expose participants to the latest thinking and best practices on managing generic consumer product safety regulation, including products bans, recalls and safety standards.

In particular, it will address the challenges posed in managing global production networks and the development of effective tools to address current and emerging aspects of consumer product safety.

As the focus is on capacity building, the workshop will provide participants with the necessary information and skills to design and implement generic consumer product safety regulatory systems that are appropriate for their Economies.

Participants may also consider developing a framework to help guide APEC economies to better address their product safety issues and to better manage and assess risks associated with the manufacture and distribution of consumer products in and emanating from the APEC region.

The sharing of the latest information from recent international fora on consumer product safety, in particular for those APEC economies that do not have the capacity to attend such meetings, will also be a core benefit of the workshop.

Co-hosted by Australia and Malaysia, the workshop will be held at the CITITEL Mid Valley Hotel, Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur.



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Finance Ministers from APEC Economies will gather next week (Trujillo, Peru, 5 - 6 November) to collaborate in addressing the global economic crisis. With an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region, Ministers will determine short- and long-term policy measures to mitigate negative impacts on member economies and preserve progress made in trade liberalisation.

The immediate policy challenge will be to stabilise financial conditions, while nursing economies through a period of decelerated economic activity and keeping inflation under control.

Areas of attention will include:

The real economy: GDP, employment and investment;

Pressure on economies to adopt protectionist policies and the risk to the benefits of trade liberalisation;

Short-term commodity price spikes, the ability of economies to adapt; and

Policies to mitigate food and commodity price shocks for the lowest income level stratum.

Specifically, Ministers will consider:

How best to stabilize markets and restore confidence across regional economies;

How best to reform capital markets and address loopholes in regulatory policies; and

How best to address global challenges through coordinated regional action.

Ministers are expected to release an official statement at the close of their two-day meeting. The Finance Ministers' Meeting is a precursor to a gathering of all APEC Leaders (22 - 23 November, Lima, Peru) and takes place as the world economy enters a major downturn.



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