APEC Bulletin 11 November 2023
If you are unable to view the Bulletin or have images disabled, please click here.
Diverse Voices Reinforce Inclusive Approach to Building a More Interconnected, Innovative and Inclusive APEC
By Ambassador Matt Murray, US Senior Official for APEC
APEC’s commitment to stakeholder engagement not only reinforces our belief in an inclusive approach to the most pressing issues we face but is a means of making better, more informed decisions when we hear from a variety of voices.
This year, we have dedicated significant time to traveling and explaining APEC to diverse stakeholder communities, particularly the connections between trade, investment and economic prosperity of everyday life in the region.
This is something we first put into practice in Honolulu during the Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting. We asked local stakeholders to provide their perspectives on the theme, priorities, and proposed work for our host year.
Throughout the year, we have listened carefully to stakeholders to ensure our APEC agenda and work reflect what is important to the people in the region, whether they hail from the private sector, civil society, think tanks, academia, advocacy groups, or labor organizations. The APEC Multistakeholder Forum is well aligned with this endeavor.
The forum’s theme, "Working through a Just Transition” is absolutely timely and critical. That is obvious given numerous challenges we currently face, none more so than climate change, a global challenge that affects us all, irrespective of our economies.
This year, under our APEC 2023 theme of “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,” APEC economies have worked together to build an “interconnected, innovative, and inclusive” Asia-Pacific region.
APEC 2023 has advanced priorities, such as climate change, supply chain resiliency, clean energy supply chains, renewable energy and technologies, disaster preparedness, sustainable aviation fuels and maritime corridors, the Decent Work agenda and inclusive human resources development, and resilient agri-food systems. In addition, conversations have centered around pathways to achieve net-zero emissions.
A very important piece we have emphasized across all our discussions, is safeguarding the most vulnerable populations impacted by climate change.
Although the impact of climate change affects everyone, it does not affect all communities equally. Some in the APEC region—often those who have not historically had opportunities to participate in making decisions to address the climate crisis—experience greater suffering.
To promote sustainable growth, we have implemented workstreams to ensure all segments of our societies are able to play a part in, and benefit from, an increasingly connected and globalized economy.
We have accelerated a sustainable transition, prioritizing and working with communities and groups disproportionately impacted by climate change, including Indigenous Peoples, workers, and women in rural areas. We have supported them in an equitable and inclusive way.
The just transition we envision includes, for example, climate financing to upskill workers, a climate and gender equity-focused roadmap plan, technologies for inclusive clean energy economy, and workers’ rights for safety and health under climate change.
We have a responsibility to actively engage with diverse voices and perspectives in climate discussions. However, this is not just the right thing to do. It is also the most effective way to do it. By bringing all groups’ unique experiences and knowledge to the table, we can find the most effective solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation for all.
This forum is a great platform to reaffirm our commitment to cooperating with civil society stakeholders on just transition topics. It enhances the important progress made by our predecessors in furthering APEC efforts to include key non-governmental stakeholders, as outlined in the Putrajaya Vision 2040 and Aotearoa Plan of Action, and APEC’s broader sustainability agenda, as defined by the 2022 Bangkok Goals.
We will have an intensive four-day program at this forum focusing on how we all can work together to serve as an incubator of ideas to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change, especially on the vulnerable groups. Our efforts must not come at the expense of people who are already facing economic hardships.
This forum marks the beginning of the 2023 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week. President Biden will soon welcome Leaders and thousands of delegates from all APEC economies here to San Francisco. At the Leaders’, ministerial and bilateral meetings, we will push forward the US APEC 2023 host year’s final efforts to implement our shared visions and goals and, as Secretary of State Blinken has said, to “meet the moment we are in,” which means delivering the results the region needs “right now” in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2023 APEC road to San Francisco has been prosperous and fruitful, thanks to our stakeholders. Starting in Honolulu, and moving through Palm Springs, Detroit, and Seattle, hundreds of meetings shaped the agendas that led us to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.
Along the way, we’ve worked with our like-minded partners, the 20 other APEC economies. Together we successfully completed ministerial meetings on transportation, trade, disaster management, agriculture, health, energy, women and the economy, and small-and-medium-sized enterprises. The meetings aimed to build stronger and more sustainable resilient economies in the region, bridging governments and stakeholders together.
In particular, in Seattle, APEC Energy Ministers endorsed the “Non-Binding Just Energy Transition Principles for APEC Cooperation.”
In short, our goal in our US APEC host year, is to produce an ambitious set of economic policy outcomes, based on our year-long engagements with a diverse set of stakeholders.
This APEC Multistakeholder Forum represents our collective commitment to building a more interconnected, innovative, and inclusive APEC region by leading generative and forward-looking conversations meant to drive the outcomes that benefit all those in the region.
This is an opportunity to help all of us search for new solutions to an evolving set of challenges and to ensure that no people, workers, places, or economies are left behind during the transitions that lie ahead.
We look forward to continuing our collaboration, understanding, and cross-border cooperation by listening to voices from across the spectrum. That is the spirit of APEC: together, as partners, APEC economies and stakeholders can make significant strides towards “Creating a Sustainable and Resilient Future for All.”
***
Ambassador Matt Murray is the United States Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
APEC Reiterates Support for WTO Work Program and Joint Initiative on E-CommerceIssued by the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment
San Francisco, The United States, 11 November 2023
APEC expresses its support for the negotiations underway at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce and encourages participants to accelerate discussions towards an outcome that is balanced, inclusive and meaningful for consumers and businesses.
During the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in San Francisco, the Committee on Trade and Investment and the Digital Economy Steering Group issued a statement encouraging more WTO members to participate in the JSI on E-commerce to further expand its benefits, and to intensify discussions on the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.
“E-commerce drives economic activity and provides more opportunities for businesses and our communities to participate in global markets,” said Blake Van Velden, Chair of the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment.
“This week, APEC economies highlighted the central role of digital technologies in growth, productivity, inclusion and innovation”, Van Velden added. “Concluding the JSI on E-commerce negotiations this year would be a great outcome for the WTO, and our region.
A recent APEC report on the economic impact of adopting digital trade rules found that intra-regional digital trade contributed USD 2.1 trillion to economies in the APEC region, equivalent to approximately 4.1 percent of regional GDP, and supported more than 60 million jobs in 2018.
“The global pandemic has impressed upon us the benefit of, and urgent need for, global rules that support digital trade across the Asia-Pacific region, and the world,” said Ekapong Rimcharone, Chair of the APEC Digital Economy Steering Group.
“We must maintain momentum as we work towards substantial conclusion of the negotiations this year, to ensure all economies can benefit from e-commerce, including our micro, small and medium-sized enterprises,” Rimcharone added.
Read the full “Statement of the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment, together with the APEC Digital Economy Steering Group in support of the WTO Work Program and Joint Statement Initiative on E-Commerce” in this link.
For further details, please contact:
Masyitha Baziad +65 9751 2146 at mb@apec.org
Michael Chapnick +65 9647 4847 at mc@apec.org
APEC Leaders, Ministers to Deepen Ties, Confront Global Challenges in San FranciscoIssued by the APEC Secretariat
San Francisco, The United States, 11 November 2023
The 2023 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week hosted by the United States and chaired by President Joe Biden has commenced in San Francisco.
Under the theme of “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All”, leaders, ministers and officials will further APEC’s work across a wide range of policy areas this year including trade and investment facilitation, the digital economy, clean energy and climate, health, gender equity and equality as well as anti-corruption and food security.
Guided by this year’s three priorities of interconnected, innovative and inclusive, senior officials are starting off the week-long deliberations under three pillars of engagement: 1) the Digital Pacific pillar to expand access to digital connectivity; 2) the Sustainability pillar to promote sustainable and inclusive energy transition; and 3) the Resilient and Inclusive Growth pillar to deepen economies’ ties and improve supply chain resiliency.
“Hosting APEC this year provides the United States with the opportunity to shape trade policies and drive economic growth in a vibrant Asia-Pacific region, which represents nearly 40 percent of the world's population, almost half of global trade and over 60 percent of the global economy,” said Ambassador Matt Murray, United States’ Senior Official for APEC.
Seven of the United States’ top 10 trading partners are APEC members. Businesses from APEC member economies have invested more than USD1.7 trillion in the United States, with these investments employing 2.3 million American workers, Ambassador Murray noted.
“This trade and investment engagement underscores APEC’s strategic role in our economic partnerships as this forum remains the premier platform for advancing economic and trade policies, fostering innovative ideas and supporting businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” Ambassador Murray added.
“By actively participating in regional and global value chains, SMEs overcome trade barriers, expand their presence, drive innovation and access new markets.”
This week-long meeting will culminate in the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on 16-17 November of which Asia-Pacific leaders will establish strategic agenda and regional goals for the next year guided by President Biden.
Preceding the arrival of APEC Leaders, the United States Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen will chair the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting on 13 November. At their meeting, Finance Ministers will focus on policies that increase long-term economic output at the same time addressing progress on social goals such as reducing inequality and environmental damage.
On 14-15 November, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the United States Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai will host their foreign and trade counterparts for the APEC Ministerial Meeting.
The APEC CEO Summit will also be held from 14-16 November, drawing business leaders and entrepreneurs from around the region to discuss how to build the future that is driven by sustainability, inclusion, resilience, and innovation.
“At the core, APEC is about how 21 member economies which are very varied in terms of economic development and political structures can sit together in a room, confront the most pressing economic challenges, deliberate on difficult issues and find common ground—all to further initiatives towards a better world,” said Dr Rebecca Sta Maria, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat.
“It is so necessary during this week’s set of meetings that we bring member economies together, not to focus on the differences and what divides us, but to focus on what we have been doing these past few years for regional economic integration, for youth, for women, for Indigenous Peoples and for our small businesses, and most importantly, to improve the lives of our citizens,” Dr Sta Maria added.
This year marks the 30th anniversary since the first time APEC Economic Leaders met held in Blake Island, Washington, on 20 November 1993 when President Bill Clinton convened the inaugural group to build a new economic foundation for the Asia-Pacific that harnesses the energy of member economies, strengthens cooperation and promotes prosperity.
For further details, please contact:
Masyitha Baziad +65 9751 2146 at mb@apec.org
Michael Chapnick +65 9647 4847 at mc@apec.org
