2013/SOM3/EC/023 Agenda Item:8. ABAC Report to EC. Purpose: Information Submitted by: ABAC

Transcription

1 2013/SOM3/EC/023 Agenda Item:8 ABAC Report to EC Purpose: Information Submitted by: ABAC Second Economic Committee Meeting Medan, Indonesia June 2013

2 Notes for the Economic Committee Meeting June 2013, Medan, Indonesia Overview of Activities of ABAC Thank you, Chair. Let me start by thanking you for the opportunity to update the Economic Committee on the work being undertaken by ABAC during this year. Since the Economic Committee Meeting in Jakarta in early February, ABAC has met in Singapore on 3-6 April. The Singapore meeting was convened to advance the work program endorsed by ABAC during its first meeting in Manila in January and to finalize the letter to APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade who met in Surabaya on April. Specifically: ABAC reaffirmed the primacy of the multilateral trading system that is embodied in the WTO and urged APEC Ministers to take the lead in successfully and productively concluding the Doha Round. ABAC urged that the 9 th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in December 2013 agree on a tangible package of Doha-related decisions. ABAC examined pathways to FTAAP such as TPP, RCEP and the emerging Pacific Alliance and urged Ministers involved in the negotiations to ensure that the respective agreements remain compatible with the ultimate goal of achieving an FTAAP. ABAC is supporting the APEC 2013 Chair s leadership in promoting a holistic and coordinated approach to improving connectivity encompassing the physical movement of goods, people-topeople connections and institutional development. This requires bringing together a complex set of trade, investment and services issues, including soft and hard infrastructure, as well as promoting consistency in regulation. ABAC is working with its partners on a research project on barriers or impediments to FDI that prevent us, as business people, from taking up the many emerging opportunities in the increasingly complex production chains in APEC. We are developing a work program to address these impediments to FDI. Recognizing that services sectors are now vital to the way we do business domestically and internationally, we held a highly successful public-private dialogue on services with SOM and PECC on the margins of SOM II in Surabaya which showed that APEC would benefit greatly from taking a more strategic approach to services regulation, development and liberalization in its work. Ahead of the meetings in Bali, we will be bringing ideas and priorities to APEC on how we should approach these challenging issues to facilitate a more constructive, wide ranging and strategic agenda on services in APEC. We continued to advance work on food security, blue economy, green growth, technology dissemination and infrastructure development. On infrastructure development, we are developing an infrastructure investment checklist that would serve an important self-assessment tool for economies and are continuing with the Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Partnership (APIP) Dialogues which ABAC started in APIP is a public private partnership of leading experts on all aspects of infrastructure development who meet with officials in APEC economies to address real and practical challenges in their infrastructure project development. ABAC also participated at the Workshop on Infrastructure held in Makassar in April under the purview of the Finance Ministers Process. ABAC is putting emphasis on engagement with SMEs through regular APEC SME Summits to encourage SMEs and to share new ideas. Six SME summits are scheduled this year, with the concluding SME Summit to be held in Bali in October. ABAC is also promoting and strongly supporting initiatives focused on increasing the participation of youth and women in business.

3 On the development and integration of financial markets, ABAC is addressing five key areas of work in 2013, namely: macroeconomic overview and monitoring of G20 developments; promoting the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF) in developing financial markets integration; developing strategies to achieve balanced growth and stronger financial integration; promoting public-private partnerships and infrastructure finance; and promoting practical solutions to financial inclusion. ABAC participated at, and is very pleased with the outcomes of, the symposium held in Sydney on April to discuss the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF) (i.e., its work program and initial structure). APFF is intended to serve as a regional platform for enhanced collaboration among regulators, officials, the financial industry and multilateral, standard-setting and capacity building bodies in developing the region s capital markets. Intersessionally, ABAC has written the Chair of the APEC Finance Ministers Meeting, the G20 Chair and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on the unintended consequences of the implementation of new financial regulations (i.e., the negative effect on trade finance). ABAC will be holding its third meeting in Kyoto, Japan on 8-11 July to finalize its letter to APEC SME Ministers, its letter and report to APEC Finance Ministers and to APEC Economic Leaders. Our letter to Leaders will form the basis of our conversation with them during the annual dialogue scheduled in Bali in October.

4 APEC Business Advisory Council Medan, Indonesia June Background Last ABAC meeting Singapore 3 6 April ABAC3 will be in Kyoto July 8 12 In substance, therefore, only intersessional activity since Surabaya. Will report back afresh to EC on results from Kyoto Key tasks: finalise Letter to Leaders Finalise letters to SME, Transport and Women in the Economy Ministers for Ministerials in Sept 1

5 Primacy of the Multilateral Trading System: need for tangible package from 9 th WTO Ministerial in Bali in December Pursue pathways to FTAAP TPP RCEP Pacific Alliance Must all be compatible with FTAAP Support primacy of Indonesia Chair s leadership in prioritising Connectivity. Physical movement of goods People to people connections Institutional development Requires bringing together complex set of trade, investment and services issues, including: Soft and hard infrastructure Consistency of regulation 2

6 2013 Marshall School study on Barriers/ impediments to FDI along increasingly complex global production chains Developing a work programme addressing impediments to FDI Vital need for Services Liberalisation New insights from OECD WTO work on value added trade Today, most trade is intermediate trade along long and complex production chains No longer simply making product in economy A, and selling to economy B Must focus on activities, not industries Demonstrates critical importance of services Demonstrates supremacy of multilateral over bilateral trade liberalisation Successful Public Private Dialogue on Services at SOM in Surabaya Need strategic approach to services regulation, development and liberalisation Seeking constructive, wide ranging and strategic Services agenda 3

7 Support for Indonesia Chair priorities: Food security (PPFS) Blue economy Green growth Technology dissemination (PPSTI) Infrastructure investment: Asia Pacific Infrastructure Partnership (APIP) US led infrastructure investment checklist: selfassessment tool SFOM Workshop on Infrastructure, Makassar, April Ongoing engagement in support of SMEs: Six SME Summits this year concluding in Bali Finance for SMEs ICT bringing SMEs into global markets, global production chains Focus on youth participation and women Inputs to SME and Women in Business Joint Ministerials in Bali in September 4

8 Development and integration of financial and capital markets: Monitoring G20 developments Asia Pacific Financial Forum (APFF) Sydney April Regulatory overhaul post 2007 crash Deepening and integration of Capital Markets Public private partnerships for infrastructure finance Financial inclusion ABAC3 in Kyoto will build proposals for work programme and initial structure for APFF Priorities insurance markets, retirement planning?? Focus on unintended consequences of new financial regulation Trade finance in jeopardy Valuable Good Regulatory Practice workshop in Medan this week Need to implement Regulatory Impact Assessments more rigorously 5

9 APEC Business Advisory Council Thank You 6