APEC senior officials meeting: Outcome of service sector talk to impact big on Philippines

CEBU, Philippines- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings on September 7 to 8, which are meant to achieve holistic and effective approach to improve services in the 21 member-economies, will be of special importance to the Philippines as the country relies heavily on it.

 “The services sector is particularly important for the Philippines because it is where we have a comparative advantage. In 2014, services accounted for 56.7 percent of our country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and 53.6 percent to total employment,” said Deputy Director-General Emmanuel Esguerra, head of the Philippine delegation to the third APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting.

He said services are vital for APEC economies to attain productivity and growth.

Discussions during the said SOM will focus on the service sector’s potential and contribution to growth in the region as well as its job-generation potential.

“This year’s hosting gives prominence to services, given the sector’s potential and large share in the growth of the region. Currently, it accounts for 66 percent of the combined GDP of APEC economies,” Esguerra said.

Part of the discussion would also cover the inclusion of services and small and medium enterprises in so-called global value chains (GVCs).

Telecommunications, e-commerce, transportation, finance and banking, engineering, construction, legal, healthcare and education services will also be tackled.

Esguerra, who is also the convenor of the APEC Group on Services, said in a statement that these areas are seen as a major contributor to “productivity growth” in all APEC economies.

“This shows us how important services is for APEC economies and that further work at the structural level needs to be done to ensure the achievement of our regional economic integration agenda and the Bogor goals,” he said.

The Philippines has proposed an APEC Services Cooperation Framework, which underscores openness to collaboration between APEC economies and the private sector.

 The document was introduced during the First Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) January this year at the Clark Economic Zone in Pampanga.

According to Esguerra, the economies have supported the proposed framework. 

He recalled that Public-Private Dialogues on Services were conducted during SOM1 and the SOM2, where the private sector showed great interest and provided substantial inputs to APEC’s work on services.

On top of that, issues concerning services regulations in different markets such as electricity, finance, telecommunications, cross-cutting nature, and others were likewise discussed.

“Having a development agenda for the services sector and facilitating regulatory cooperation in areas concerning trade in services will be discussed…to enable easier knowledge and technology-transfer across industries and economies,” Esguerra said.  (FREEMAN)