APEC Bulletin 19 May 2024
Human Capital Investment: Key in Navigating the Shift from Informal to Formal EconomyBy Ambassador Carlos Vasquez, APEC 2024 SOM Chair
Education and capacity building are key factors in reducing informality.
In order to ensure that all economic sectors may benefit from greater trade, inclusive trade works to reduce inequality, promote shared prosperity, and facilitate the transition to the formal economy.
In this sense, APEC can significantly contribute to the advancement of sustainable and inclusive trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by promoting trade policies and supporting technical cooperation and capacity building that value inclusivity, foster the transition to the formal economy, and remove trade barriers.
This is captured in the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 and the Aotearoa Plan of Action, which seek to foster quality growth that brings palpable benefits and greater health and wellbeing to all, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), women, and others with untapped economic potential. Both establish that APEC economies should take collective action to “promote ecosystems that support MSMEs” and “promote MSMEs’ access to finance, global markets, and global value chains as well as assisting in building their capacity to effectively participate in the wider economy.”