Officials gather for first APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Services

Officials attending the First Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) at the Clark Freeport Zone in Angeles City Tuesday (Feb. 3) conducted the First Public-Private Dialogue on Services to discuss issues confronting the service sector.

The country's hosting of the APEC will put services at the center of the discussions, APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting Chairperson Laura del Rosario said when opening the event.

Services will be at the forefront of their priorities, such as regional economic integration, human capital development, promoting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), integration to the global supply chain, and sustainable and resilient communities, she said.

"We have been discussing connectivity in the past two years, specifically on the physical... person-to-person connectivity. But from where we are, we have always thought that services are the underlying glue in connectivity," del Rosario said.

"Services are already being discussed in various working groups in APEC, for example, in health, tourism, transportation, energy, IT, human resources development, telecoms, e-commerce, global supply chain and also the SMEs."

The APEC however has no coordinating mechanism in place, no framework on regulations and capacities in this area, she noted, adding that through the dialogue, she hopes to understand the intricacies of the universe of services.

Tuesday’s meeting is the first public-private dialogue on services to be held this year. It is expected to guide stakeholders in crafting policies, strategies and plans in moving toward the future.

The discussion will examine developments, challenges and opportunities for the services sector and identify new strategies for building the sector’s full potential.

Stakeholders will also try to generate policy options toward removing barriers to services trade and develop an innovative approach in pursuing the APEC's services agenda.

The meeting is expected to foster collaboration and best practical exchanges to promote growth in the service sector.

The First Public-Private Dialogue will cover information technology and business process management (IT-BPM), creative industries, and research and development services.

The second dialogue will tackle services relevant to the goods sector, such as manufacturing-related services.

The two Public-Private Dialogues to be held at the margins of the First and Second Senior Officials' Meetings will lead to the first Regional Conference of Services Coalitions and Services Industries of the Third Senior Officials' Meeting in Cebu. (PCOO News Release)