The Philippines will launch an “inclusive economies” initiative, in its role as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Chair in 2015.
The initiative, which aims to combat inequality, will focus on joint actions to improve economic stability, job creation, productivity and wages, along with traditional drivers of growth, such as strengthening trade and investment.
28 January 2015: The Philippines will launch an “inclusive economies” initiative, in its role as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Chair in 2015. The initiative, which aims to combat inequality, will focus on joint actions to improve economic stability, job creation, productivity and wages, along with traditional drivers of growth, such as strengthening trade and investment.
According to APEC Secretariat Executive Director Alan Bollard, the Asia-Pacific region is experiencing “gross discrepancies in economic engagement and wealth accumulation,” which jeopardize the underlying health and economic competitiveness of both developed and developing countries. He emphasized that coordinated, sustained efforts to to address “new and deepening economic, social and environmental imbalances” are critical to lifting productivity and getting the most out of trade and development.
Ministers attending the First APEC Senior Officials Meeting, convening on 6-7 February 2015, in the Philippines, will be tasked with directing and elaborating upon the 12-month inequalities campaign. Ministers are expected to address, inter alia: anti-corruption measures; disaster preparedness, environmental goods and services liberalization; fisheries and ocean-related issues; small and medium enterprise (SME) development; and trade facilitation and implementation of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Bali Package.
“APEC members are launching a new assault on inequality in a bid to establish more inclusive economies that level the playing field and open new opportunities for people all across the Asia-Pacific region,” said Laura Del Rosario, Philippine Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and 2015 Chair of the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting. She explained that the initiative’s mission is “about doing what’s morally right and good for growth.”
Among its other priorities for 2015, APEC will work to build sustainable, resilient communities through reducing tariffs on environmental goods, taking steps to double the region’s renewable energy by 2030, cutting carbon emissions, raising energy efficiency, improving food security and reducing disaster risk. [APEC Press Release] [APEC’s 2015 Agenda Priorities]