AFTER months of preparation, marked by the physical cleanup of unsightly places in Metro Manila, the rerouting of traffic, the designation of quarters for international dignitaries and the setting up of security measures for them, among other things, we are at last going to host, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 27th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum. What’s in it for us in this forum of this august organization, if we may ask?
Plenty. Recalling bits of history, Apec was established by 21 Pacific Rim economies in 1989 for the purpose of promoting free trade among them. Over time, they modified this general objective to deal with the changing issues of the day—to reduce trade barriers and promote investment and, in the last Senior Officials’ Meeting in 2014 in preparation for this year’s session, to reduce the cost of doing business in the economies of the region.
Specific purposes for this year’s forum include: to invest in human-capital development; to foster the participation of small and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in global markets; to build sustainable and resilient countries; and to enhance regional cooperation.
Our country can gain much from the mere expansion of the market for its export products. The economies encompassed by Apec are a veritable receptacle for Philippine exports. As has been said time and again, the Philippines has the lowest exports per capita among the original five nation members of Asean (not counting Brunei Darussalam which does not need to export anything). The promotion of investment among the member-economies can only enlarge our own investment program.
The push directed at SMEs to join up in world markets is vital to the accelerated development of our own SMEs. Exposure to local conditions, including experience in dealing with large local corporations, no doubt has been beneficial to our SMEs, but it obviously has not been stimulating enough to enable them to graduate from their small-scale status. Hopefully, participation in world markets will give them access to international supply chains and networks, and enable them to grow more rapidly over time.
The focus on the building of resilient countries will be of particular relevance to us. While our experience in rebuilding from the devastation of violent typhoons and storms will be instructive to Apec members, we also hope to benefit from the experience of our neighbors in the rehabilitation of injured people and damaged communities.
This is not saying that Apec is all sweetness and light. On the contrary, there are questions about its potential power to overwhelm local laws on worker protection (in the name of promoting competitiveness), on poor people’s access to reasonably priced medicines (in the name of protecting intellectual property rights), and on environmental protection (again, in order to promote competitiveness). These concerns must be given the serious attention that they deserve.
In the meanwhile, we express support to our high officials in the government and the private sector for their leadership of this Apec forum and extend our warmest welcome to the international leaders and dignitaries for their participation. May this forum achieve the success it is hoping for.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano