Apec seniors’ meeting ‘very productive’ – official

CEBU CITY -The Third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM3) of the 21-member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) here has been described as “very productive,” an official said on Sunday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura del Rosario said the SOM3 and other related meetings focused on building resilient communities, urbanization, educational reforms, health initiatives, security measures, disaster preparedness and response and free trade, among others.

Del Rosario said Apec senior officials discussed achieving social equity through education.

“The more people who study, the more who know how to connect ideas, and the more they can compete,” she said.

She said senior officials also tackled disaster preparedness and response among Apec economies.

“Government should be ready to take in outside help during calamities and disasters,” she said.

She mentioned that among the important initiatives for a better disaster response was for disaster relief not to be subjected to tax or customs duty.

She added that there must be a swift movement of medicines, goods and equipment to facilitate a better disaster response.

She said the Apec member economies are also looking on how foreign professionals could be allowed to practice their expertise during natural disasters.

“We’re opening up borders in times of disasters. This also goes with our own government’s response,” she said.

Amid the challenge of urbanization, she said Apec officials also discussed sustainable and livable cities.

“Urbanization is a big problem in Apec economies,” she said, adding that issues on transportation, pollution and water supply were discussed.

She cited that 60 percent of the population will live in the urban areas.

To address this concern, she said experts shared their technology to city mayors and urban planners in building more sustainable and resilient cities.

She said issues on health concerns also looked into the possibility of having pandemics in the future.

According to her, Apec is already looking at preventive measures and strengthening its capacity to address those concerns.

She said Apec economies also looked into building health systems that have traditional backing.

“We don’t have to always rely on medicines from developed economies. We also have to rely on traditional medicines,” she said.

The SOM3 in Cebu is the penultimate gathering of senior officials ahead of the Apec leaders’ summit in Manila in November.