A.

INVESTING IN HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT

APEC underscores the importance of investing in human capital development

in achieving sustained and broad-based growth. Recognizing that economic growth
is anchored by the quality of its human resources, APEC 2015 will continue to
pursue the long-term goal of building a skilled and adaptable APEC community
through cross-border education, science and technology-based education and skills
development, and innovation-driven capacity-building programs.
Placed within the context of new technologies that increase the volume,
velocity and variety of knowledge and information flows, APECs human capital
development initiatives will be designed to foster economic competitiveness
coupled with equal opportunity. APEC looks to enhanced cooperation between
education providers and businesses as employersto help realize human resource
development goals.
Sub Priorities:

Promoting knowledge-based economies

APEC Senior Officials welcomed the official launch of the APEC
Scholarship Initiative, which promotes the creation of privately and publicly
funded APEC-branded scholarship, training, and internship opportunities to
benefit students and professionals, especially youth and women. This
initiative supports APEC Leaders target of one million intra-APEC universitylevel students per year by 2020.

Promoting science & technology education and innovation in APEC

The APEC Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation
(PPSTI) supports the development of science and technology cooperation and
effective innovation policy in APEC economies. It serves as APECs primary
forum to engage government, private sector and academia in joint scientific
research.
Its strategic aim is to enhance economic growth, trade and investment
opportunities, as well as social progress, in harmony with sustainability. The
PSSTI will seek to develop an enabling environment for market-based
innovation policy that supports commercialization, promotes innovation
capacity, and facilitates cooperation among APEC members.

Developing job skills needed by APEC business in the 21st century

Work towards the development of the APEC workforce to possess 21st
Century Skills in collaboration with various private industry sectors - with
emphasis on personal skills, character-building skills, cognitive, critical and
innovative thinking, inter-personal and intra-personal skills, global
connectivity, and media and information literacy.

Internationalization of education/cross-border education to develop APECwide skills

APEC emphasize the importance of better access to quality education,
training and information, including virtual academic mobility through the use
of ICT and innovative teaching practices. It will strengthen cross-border
education cooperation in APEC, including through enhancing student,
researcher and provider mobility. It will welcome the updates on the APEC
Scholarship and Internship Initiative and encourage more economies to put
forward offers of scholarships and internships. It will welcome the initiative to
provide persons with disabilities with equal access education and to enable
their participation in the workforce.

B.
FOSTERING SMEs PARTICIPATION IN REGIONAL AND GLOBAL
MARKETS
This topic talks about the Philippines proposal for an SME Action Plan during
the First Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials Meeting and
Related Meetings about enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs (Small and Medium
Enterprises) so that they can expand into new markets. This SME Action Plan help
SMEs improve their management capabilities, strengthen their access to financing,
and foster a business environment that encourages SMEs to access overseas
markets. It also complements APECs ongoing work on Supply Chain Connectivity
which aims to provide an enabling environment for business by improving logistics,
transportation, cross-border transit and infrastructure. When there is a greater
SMEs participation in supply-chains, it will lead to more jobs and increased exports.
Importantly, this will lead to inclusive growth, so that all parts and members of the
economy can benefit.
1. Removing barriers to SMEs, including entry to markets
2. Promoting inclusive growth through sustainable and resilient SMEs
3. Advocating modernization and standard conformance among SMEs
Removing these limitations will result to a better encouragement for people
to be part of SMEs by forming their own enterprises that will compete globally with
others. This will help in the development of our economy.
C.

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

Due to many unforeseeable natural or even man-made catastrophes of

substantial extent many have cause damages and destruction. Asia-Pacific Trade
who promotes free and open trade and investment had merely lost their image as
sustainable and resilient investment destination. It caused a disturbance over the
distribution and consumption or the management of it's factors.

As for that, one main proposal of APEC agreement will focus on plans that will
prove their resiliency and sustainability. They will augment the strength of their
communities and business through energy and food security. In addition, they will
also focus on the preservation of the natural resources especially the ocean
ecosystem and main resources because it is said that the Blue Economy- oriented
member economies gave a critical importance to it.
Sub- Priorities:
1. Creating and promoting risk reduction and management in APEC
economies.
One of the goals of APEC this current year 2015, is to create and
promote risk reduction management to all APEC economies which had
experienced calamities. The reason for this is that most of its members are
the countries which are at risk of disaster.
2. Building resilient infrastructure.
Another goal is to create a more resilient and accurate infrastructure to
prevent damages and problems to APEC economies if there would be
calamities.
3. Fostering business continuity.
Another goal of the APEC is to offer help to the businesses to continue
and become stable for its development and growth.
4. Building SMEs resilience to disaster.
Establish a more firm small and medium enterprises for the
preparation against any disaster, in case.
5. Enhancing food security and the Blue Economy in the APEC region.
Intensifying the food security in order to prevent shortage or lacking of
stocks in case of any calamities. In addition, most of the members of the APEC
are Blue Economies.
6. Promoting coastal management and marine conservation.
APEC also aims to advance the stewardship in the coastal areas
because most of its members acquire their livelihood in it. In addition, it also
affiliates with the protection of all bodies of water.
D.

ENHANCING THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AGENDA

1. Strengthening regional economic integration through the Bogor Goals

Reaffirming our commitment to the Bogor Goals

The Bogor Goals remain a key organizing principle and driving force for APEC.
They have helped the APEC economies not only to promote sustainable and stable
economic development, but they have also made a considerable contribution to
Asia-Pacific economic integration. Agreed actions: We reaffirm our commitment to
achieve the Bogor Goals and will continue to take concrete actions towards free and
open trade and investment. We underline in particular the role played by the Busan
Roadmap and the Hanoi Action Plan to advance this goal. Exploring a Free Trade
Area of the Asia-Pacific In 2006 we called for recommendations concerning the
possibility of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) as a long-term prospect.
An FTAAP could make a considerable contribution to economic integration in the
Asia-Pacific region, but its implications are not yet fully understood. Nor are the
issues that would need to be addressed clearly identified. Several plurilateral freetrade agreements involving members of APEC are already in place, and others are
at various stages of consideration (see attachment). A considerable quantity of
analytical material concerning bilateral and plurilateral free-trade agreements is
available for examination. It is nevertheless clear that more could be learned from
intensified work among the APEC economies on the opportunities an FTAAP could
provide, as well as the challenges it could present. Additional SOM Trade Policy
Dialogues to discuss various aspects of a possible FTAAP would be helpful. Agreed
actions: Through a range of practical incremental steps, we will examine the options
and prospects for a FTAAP, including: compiling an inventory of issues relevant to
an FTAAP that would need to be addressed as part of a possible preparatory process
and examining their possible implications; conducting an analytical study of existing
bilateral and plurilateral free-trade agreements in the region with the aims of
increasing knowledge of their similarities and differences, as well as enabling
economies to identify possible ways in which the FTAAP concept could be furthered;
undertaking a review of existing analytical work relevant to a possible FTAAP and
assessing the need for any additional analytical work; and examining the
feasibility of docking or merging existing free trade agreements.
2. Promoting connectivity through Trade in Services which will focus on
the people-to-people and institutional connectivity within the region
Senior Officials Set APECs 2015 Agenda Priorities
To enhance regional integration, APEC economies will organize and lead a
task force to undertake a two-year collective strategic study on issues related to the
realization of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, as well as open a new technical
capacity building initiative in pursuit of the FTAAP. Cooperation to reduce customs
bottlenecks for goods at borders will also top the agendasupporting the adoption
of the global Trade Facilitation Agreement as well as APECs pursuit of a 10 per cent
increase in regional supply chain performance by the end of 2015, from 2009 levels.
Easing services trade barriers and strengthening financial institutions will also be
points of emphasis.

Additional measures to foster small and medium enterprise development will

include addressing hurdles to starting a business, getting credit, dealing with
permits, enforcing contracts and trading across bordersin line with APECs goal to
make it 25 per cent easier to do business in the region by the end of 2015, from
2009 levels, and facilitated by deeper cooperation in areas like structural reform
and fighting corruption. Actions will moreover center on promoting SME sector
modernization, standards conformance, commercial innovation, global production
chain integration and increased value-added trade.
To strengthen investment in human capital development, further steps will be
taken towards the goal of 1 million intra-APEC student exchanges annually by 2020,
including advancement of a new APEC scholarship and internship initiative. Focus
will also be on cultivating an APEC-wide womens entrepreneurship network to drive
women-led business growth; training in areas like financial services and internet
use; and finalizing Information Technology Agreement expansion to widen access to
products that support academic and professional development.
To build sustainable and resilient communities, APEC will endeavor to reduce
tariffs on 54 environmental goods to 5 per cent or less by the end of 2015 and
pursue further steps to double renewable energy in the region by 2030, from 2010
levels, cut carbon emissions and raise energy efficiency. Initiatives will also center
on improving natural disaster risk reduction, food security and the management of
health threats, and counter-terrorism, as well as implementing APECs Connectivity
Blueprint and Multi-Year Plan on Infrastructure Investment and Development.
Adoption of the long-term Growth Strategy established by APEC Leaders in
2010 and APEC membership and observer status-related issues will also be
reviewed.
2015 Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade
Statement
3. Advancing financial markets aimed at creating stronger financial
institutions within the region to better respond to prospective economic
shocks
The recent surge in FDI in the developing Asian countries is attributable to
the regions economic dynamism in the wake of its unilateral trade and investment
liberalization. The bulk of the increase in FDI has been concentrated in such
emerging markets as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The yens steady
strengthening against the dollar has also prompted Japans FDI in southeast Asia,
triggering further expansion of intra-regional trade through increased demands for
imports from the region. It is also worth pointing out that increased foreign
investments in the APR have been accompanied by financial-sector reforms in the
developing Asian countries. Financial intermediaries and markets in the APR, which
were highly regulated until the early 1980s, expanded rapidly thereafter as a result

of efforts by Asian governments to liberalize their financial sectors. The reforms, by

focusing on a wider choice of ways to raise funds and special financial instruments
to permit investment risks to be traded, had generally beneficial effects on the level
of domestic and foreign savings and the efficiency of investment. The development
of financial markets through reform measures in the APR appears to have led to the
strengthening of links among national economies, thereby enhancing opportunities
of foreign investment. Also, well-developed financial markets are instrumental in
PRC received $11 billion in foreign investment in 1992, of which Japan, Hong Kong,
and Taiwan were responsible for more than 85 percent. mobilizing savings and
improving efficiency in the allocation of resources.
Missed opportunities
Large reserves of over $6 trillion mostly invested outside the region
Private savings by Asian wealthy $7.4 trillion in 2008 also largely invested
outside the region
AP countries needs for funds are also provided by western capital markets
Intermediation of Asias savings and investments is done by the western
capital markets
4. Strengthening global supply chain/global value chains in the APEC
region.
Last year, Leaders believed that APEC should secure equitable benefits from
global value chain (GVC) development. We instruct officials to advance the
implementation of the APEC Strategic Blueprint for Promoting GVC Development
and Cooperation through the initiatives and work plans under the different work
streams. We commit to cooperate and work towards a more focused GVC evolution
to facilitate sustainable, inclusive, and balanced growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
We note plans for a trade policy dialogue in August in the margins of CTI3 in
Cebu on how the 2013 APEC Best Practices to Create Jobs and Increase
Competitiveness could also be applied to other types of localization policies.
We welcome the initiatives and work plans under the work stream of SMEs
Participation into Global Value Chains in the APEC Strategic Blueprint. We encourage
officials to continue the conduct of industry fora consultation and networking in five
major industries (IT/electronics, automotive, textiles, healthcare products and
agribusiness). We look forward to the progress report by November 2015 on the
identification of barriers to trade, business opportunities for collaboration and
capacity-building needs of SMEs to integrate into the GVCs of each industry. We
note the proposal to promote the integration of small-scale fishers and fishery
industries into GVCs, and welcome further discussion of officials on the proposal.

Bearing in mind the importance of making the investment climate more

predictable and transparent in the region, we welcome the work plan and initiatives
to explore measures and actions for improving the investment climate for GVC
development. We instruct officials to further advance the work in this regard with a
view to further facilitating cross-border investment flows in global value chains.