MEMORANDUM FOR THE HONG KONG COMMITTEE FOR PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (HKCPEC)

Transcription

1 HKCPEC/Inf/2/14 4 April 2014 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HONG KONG COMMITTEE FOR PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (HKCPEC) SUMMARY Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC): Outcome of the First Senior Officials Meeting in 2014 The First Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) of APEC 2014 was held on 27 and 28 February 2014 in Ningbo, China, preceded by a number of committee, sub-committee and experts group meetings. The Hong Kong, China (HKC) delegation was led by the Director-General of Trade and Industry. This note informs Members of the gist of the outcome of SOM1. 2. The theme for APEC 2014, set by the China host, is Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership. Major issues discussed at SOM1 were related to the three priorities in 2014, namely (a) advancing regional economic integration, (b) promoting innovative development, economic reform and growth, and (c) strengthening comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure development. DETAILS Advancing Regional Economic Integration 3. Under the first priority, China was of the view that APEC could enhance collaboration in a number of areas, including (a) supporting the multilateral trading system (MTS), (b) realisation of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), and (c) supply chain connectivity and Global Value Chain (GVC). Supporting the MTS 4. Senior Officials agreed that APEC should send a strong signal to the world about its firm support to the MTS and demonstrate leadership for the early implementation of the Bali Package including the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), while pursuing the post-bali work in parallel.

2 - 2 - There was broad support for China s proposal to prepare a standalone statement in support of the MTS to be issued by the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade in May 2014, and the US proposal on APEC s support for implementation of the WTO TFA. Member Economies also called for early implementation of the APEC List of Environmental Goods (EGs), so as to provide impetus to the Plurilateral EG Initiative at the WTO. Realisation of an FTAAP 5. Senior Officials broadly supported working towards APEC s long-term vision of an FTAAP, which should be a target for APEC after achieving the Bogor Goals by In this connection, Member Economies noted the coming review of progress towards achieving the Bogor Goals. They welcomed China s proposal on an APEC Framework on Strengthening Regional Economic Integration, which included formulating a work plan and launching a feasibility study within this year. To take the matter forward, China and the US would co-chair a Friends of the Chair Group, newly established under the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), on Strengthening Regional Economic Integration and Advancing the FTAAP. Supply Chain Connectivity and GVC 6. Senior Officials emphasised the importance of achieving the target of an APEC-wide 10% improvement in the supply chain connectivity by They noted the newly established Sub-Fund on Supply Chain Connectivity which would provide financial support to APEC Member Economies to launch projects that sought to enhance supply chain efficiency and promote connectivity in the region. HKC had donated US$150,000 to this Sub-Fund as one of the initial donors The HKC-New Zealand Joint Project on Application of Global Data Standards to Enhance Supply Chain Connectivity, comprising a workshop and a trade policy dialogue to be held in May 2014 and August 2014 in the margins of the SOM2 and SOM3 respectively, was endorsed by the CTI with positive response from other APEC Members. 8. With the deepening of globalisation and regional economic integration, GVC had become increasingly important. China proposed to 1 The US, New Zealand, Singapore and Chinese Taipei have pledged to donate to this Sub-Fund.

3 - 3 - develop a comprehensive APEC blueprint on GVC, which would include policy options and key actions to promote and facilitate GVC development in the region. The blueprint would seek to realise the new role of services in GVC, assist small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to benefit from GVC, improve the investment climate, and adopt effective trade facilitation measures, among others. An APEC Dialogue on GVC would be held in the margins of SOM2. Senior Officials agreed to work intersessionally on this important subject. Promoting Innovative Development, Economic Reform and Growth 9. Under the second priority, China believed that APEC had to find new drivers of growth through reform, readjustment and innovation. China suggested enhancing cooperation in several areas, including (a) economic structural reform, (b) innovative growth through science and technology, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), internet economy and urbanisation, (c) inclusive development, including food security, human resources, SMEs, anti-corruption, women and health, and (d) green growth, including sustainable energy, environment, forestry, mining, ocean-related issues and disaster management. Economic Structural Reform 10. Member Economies reported progress in implementing domestic structural and regulatory reforms, and presented the outcome of their championed capacity building activities and future work streams in this area. Senior Officials noted China s proposal to organise a workshop in Qingdao this May for (a) experience sharing on getting through the middle income trap, (b) promoting structural reform to avoid the trap, and (c) exploring future actions on post-2015 structural reform after the completion of the current APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform initiative. 11. Senior Officials also endorsed the proposal by the US on Good Regulatory Practices - Conducting Public Consultations on Proposed Regulations in the Internet Era. Under the proposal, APEC would formulate a set of actions by 2020 to strengthen how regulators should conduct public consultations on proposed regulations via the internet, and carry out a robust capacity building programme to undertake these actions. 12. HKC s project of holding the second workshop on Hague Conventions in Beijing this August was endorsed by the APEC Economic Committee. The workshop would demonstrate how the Hague

4 - 4 - Conventions might complement APEC s Ease of Doing Business initiative by facilitating cross-border transactions and dispute resolution through streamlined processes on authentication, service of documents and taking of evidence, which might also form part of the structural reform of an Economy. Innovative Growth 13. Senior Officials agreed that innovation was essential for economic growth. Member Economies presented their initiatives on promoting innovation and providing the necessary enabling environment. Senior Officials took note of China s proposals on innovation-driven development and developing an internet economy through ICT cooperation. China would seek to advance these proposals through the relevant APEC fora and through roundtables and seminars, with a view to submitting recommendations to the 2014 APEC Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM). 14. Senior Officials also endorsed China s proposal of enhancing cooperation in urbanisation and sustainable city development. Under the proposal, the APEC Policy Support Unit (PSU) would carry out a study on the topic. On the basis of the PSU study report, a policy dialogue would be held this year to formulate and submit recommendations to the 2014 APEC Ministers Meeting (AMM) and AELM. Inclusive Development 15. Senior Officials welcomed the outcome of the APEC Policy Partnership on Food Security (PPFS) Government-Business Dialogue Conference on Food Security, and PPFS Management Council Meeting held before SOM1. The dialogue discussed how to (a) exert the decisive role of the market and better play the role of government on food security, (b) promote regional cooperation on food quality/ safety management and standardisation, and (c) reduce food losses and waste. Senior Officials appreciated the concrete results achieved by the PPFS, and the continued involvement of the private sector in pursuing APEC s food security goals. 16. SMEs remained a priority under this agenda item. Senior Officials agreed that APEC should continue to work on (a) fostering entrepreneurship development for SMEs, (b) enhancing SMEs global competitiveness, (c) improving SMEs access to finance, (d) enhancing SMEs capacity to participate in global supply and value chains, and (e) enhancing SMEs access to international markets.

5 China indicated that it would continue to advance work on anti-corruption this year by addressing bribery and extradition of economic criminal suspects. The US indicated that they would work with the private sector to develop principles on corporate compliance programmes to prevent bribery and corruption. 18. Senior Officials welcomed China s Healthy Asia-Pacific 2020 initiative, under which APEC would cooperate on (a) prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, (b) universal health coverage, and (c) emergency response to public health emergencies and disasters. Green Growth 19. Senior Officials noted that China would (a) host an Energy Ministerial Meeting this September, with sustainable energy development as one of the important agenda items, and (b) establish an APEC Sustainable Energy Centre to forge cooperation and partnership among Member Economies through information sharing and capacity building. 20. China s proposal of holding a High-Level Roundtable on Green Development in Tianjin in May 2014 was endorsed by Senior Officials. The Roundtable aimed to promote policy dialogues and share best practices on green and sustainable development and transformation, with a view to increasing understanding, experience-sharing, facilitating trade and investment and preventing trade frictions. 21. Senior Officials also noted China s hosting of the 4th APEC Ocean-related Ministerial Meeting in Xiamen this August. Strengthening Comprehensive Connectivity and Infrastructure Development 22. Under the third priority, China proposed efforts to promote APEC cooperation in physical, soft and people-to-people connectivity. Senior Officials (a) considered the development of the APEC Blueprint on Connectivity, (b) discussed the APEC Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative and the expansion of investment and financing channels for connectivity and infrastructure development in the Asia Pacific, (c) explored collaboration between the APEC SOM and Finance Ministers Process (FMP), and (d) discussed steps to take forward soft and people-to-people connectivity.

6 - 6 - APEC Blueprint on Connectivity 23. Senior Officials endorsed the draft outline of the APEC Blueprint on Connectivity and its related work plan proposed by China. A Friends of the Chair Group on Connectivity was established under SOM to oversee the development and implementation of the Blueprint. A symposium on APEC Connectivity Blueprint would be held in the margins of SOM2 to facilitate the further development of the Blueprint. Collaboration with the APEC FMP 24. The Chair of the APEC Finance Deputies Meeting (FDM) briefed the meeting on the outcome of the FDM held in Bo ao, China on February Among others, cooperation on infrastructure investment and financing was one of the key topics discussed at the FDM. The FDM Chair reassured the meeting that FMP would continue to work with SOM closely on this important topic. Soft and People-to-People Connectivity 25. Senior Officials were supportive of China s proposal on electronic port, which was a public information and communication technology infrastructure that served as a data exchange platform for all port and market entry related activities, thus enabling all stakeholders in public and private sectors to share data and coordinate with each other to optimise custom process and modernise port management. It would be conducive to realising the Single Window System. Member Economies indicated interests in participating in the future discussions on this proposal. 26. Senior Officials expressed support to include cross-border education for enhancing people-to-people connectivity. Australia updated the meeting on the latest enrichment to the APEC Work Plan on Cross-border Education Cooperation. Member Economies presented their initiatives of further enhancing the mobility of students, researchers and education service providers. Senior Officials also welcomed the US proposal of setting up an online information database of scholarships available in APEC, as a new activity to be incorporated into the Work Plan. 27. Senior Officials supported expanding the APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) scheme to all Member Economies, and extending the validity period of the ABTC from three to five years.

7 - 7 - COMMENTS 28. As various regional economic cooperation initiatives progress in the region, we are encouraged by the wide support among Senior Officials to China s proposal on strengthening regional economic integration for the eventual realisation of an FTAAP. 29. Riding on the momentum generated by the success of the WTO Ninth Ministerial Meeting, we are pleased with Senior Officials commitment to implement the Bali Package without delay and to pursue post-bali work in parallel. We are particularly glad that Member Economies had agreed to start work early on the Standalone Statement to support the MTS. 30. As the Lead of the CTI Friends of the Chair Group on Supply Chain Connectivity Initiative and one of the initial donors to the newly established Sub-Fund, HKC will continue to work constructively with Member Economies on capacity building projects to achieve the target of an APEC-wide ten percent improvement in supply chain performance by 2015, in terms of reduction of time, cost and uncertainty. The HKC-New Zealand Joint Project on Global Data Standards is part of our on-going efforts in this regard. We are encouraged by Member Economies positive response. 31. APEC will take a robust view in 2014 in deepening economic structural reform and pursuing innovative developments, with a view to adding impetus to the global economic growth. We are glad that APEC has endorsed HKC s second workshop on Hague Conventions to be held in Beijing this August to complement the Ease of Doing Business and structural reform initiatives of APEC. ADVICE SOUGHT 32. Members are invited to note the content of this memorandum. Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat Ref: EIC 1016/10/ CR EIC 1013/35