APEC senior officials open first formal meeting in Philippines

CLARK FREEPORT - Senior officials of the 21 member states of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) opened on Friday their first formal meeting for 2015, which is being hosted by the Philippines.

In her welcome remarks, Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura Del Rosario said within the two-day meeting, senior officials will lay down the groundwork for policy direction of APEC in 2015.

Del Rosario said the APEC's policy direction this year is built upon the outcomes of APEC 2014 in China, which revolve around advancing regional economic integration, promoting innovative development, economic reform and growth and strengthening comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure development.

"Those priorities of China are reflected in our own priorities and our desired outcomes for this year which is built around the theme 'Building inclusive economies, building a better world,'" Del Rosario said.

Senior officials will also take note of all the recommendations made by the various technical working groups and committees who met starting January 26 to discuss initiatives, policies and capacity-building programs that advance APEC’s goals of trade liberalization, business facilitation and economic cooperation.

In those meetings, Del Rosario said best practices were shared and commitments were renewed on economic issues related to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), anti-corruption, disaster management, counter-terrorism, secure trade, business mobility, electronic commerce, environmental goods and human capacity building, among others.

Del Rosario said senior officials will consider how to advance initiatives particularly those that crosscut the APEC committee on trade and investment, the economic committee and the senior committee on economic technical cooperation.

"Further tying all the discussions of the working groups meetings were the four APEC 2015 priorities namely: advancing the Regional Economic Integration Agenda; fostering SMEs’ participation in regional and global markets; investing in human capital development; and building sustainable and resilient communities," Del Rosario said.