Apec officials tackle services in Boracay

Senior officials of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) will discuss ways to further bolster the growth of the agriculture, environment and manufacturing services sector across the region at a meeting to be held in scenic Boracay Island this month.

In a statement on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the second round of the public-private dialogue on services (PPD) would be held on May 17 on the sidelines of the Second Apec Senior Officials’ Meeting or SOM2, in partnership with the Apec Business Advisory Council or Abac.

According to the DFA, the second PPD is part of a series of dialogues on service industries that are aimed at guiding Apec member-governments as well as the private sector in their pursuit of the group’s services agenda via the exchange of best practices and regional collaboration.

“With the services industry in the Philippines currently employing 1.052 million Filipinos and the services sector as the largest contributor to Philippine growth figures at 56.7 percent of gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Neda [National Economic and Development Authority] figures, discussion on ways to boost the services sector growth is a priority of the Philippines as it plays host to Apec 2015,” the DFA noted.

While in the past, the primary focus of discussions on the services sector had been on the booming information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry, Apec is looking at expanding talks to tackle the challenges, developments and opportunities in agriculture, environment and manufacturing-related services.

“To cover the other critical sectors to services growth, the second 2015 PPD will feature experts, service providers and consumers from across the Asia-Pacific as well as from international organizations such as the International Trade Center, the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Development Cooperation,” the DFA said.

To be discussed by Apec government and business leaders are logistics, supply chain connectivity and transportation, as well as professional services, including architecture and engineering, energy, environmental and urban planning, waste management, and also air, noise and water pollution.

The first PPD conducted in February during the sidelines of the First Apec Senior Officials’ Meeting or SOM1 in Clark, Pampanga focused on creative industries, IT-BPM, and research and development or R&D services.

The outputs from these two PPDs would be inputted into the proposed “Apec Services Cooperation Framework,” which the DFA said was a Philippine-led initiative aimed at guiding the priorities for collaboration on the group’s strategy for services competitiveness.

The next meeting on the services sector will be held during the first regional conference of services coalitions and service industries on the sidelines of the Third Apec Senior Officials’ Meeting or SOM3 in Cebu this coming September.