APEC public-private dialogue on services opens
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Public-Private Dialogue on Services took place in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa on February 23.
Commodity trade and manufacturing increasingly rely on services, such as distribution, telecommunication and finance, among others, she said, citing that economies with high rate of trade and services in their gross domestic product (GDP) prove to perform better than those strong in agriculture and manufacturing.
Member economies targeted that APEC would achieve an over 6.8 percent service growth and the percentage rate of added value of the services sector in regional GDP will be higher than the world’s average level.
To that end, APEC needs to exert further efforts to realise ASCR with closer liaison between APEC committees and working groups. During the roadmap implementation, the business community and other sectors’ feedback play an important role in building policies and working programmes.
At the event, policymakers and business representatives discussed ways to intensify APEC cooperation in major services such as distribution, transport and logistics.
The dialogue, as part of the first APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM-1) underway in Nha Trang, is expected to provide a platform for the APEC Group on Services and other forums to continue building capacity support programmes for its members, particularly developing economies in the above fields.