Apec meet starts next week in Clark

MANILA, Philippines—Senior officials of member-countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) will kick-start its first meeting at the Clark Freeport Zone next week to tackle developments, challenges and opportunities in the service industries.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday that the Apec Senior Officials, in partnership with the Apec Business Advisory Council of the Philippines and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, will have a public-private dialogue on services on Feb. 3 at the Clark Freeport Zone as one of the related meetings of the ongoing First Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1).

“The event is the first in a series of dialogues on services in 2015 envisioned to guide Apec’s public and private stakeholders in examining developments, challenges, and opportunities for the services sectors,” the DFA said.

The officials also seek to identify new strategies for building the full potential of the services sectors in the region.

It intends to generate policy options towards removing barriers to services trade and develop an innovative approach in pursuing the services agenda of Apec, while fostering collaboration among economies.

At least 22 speakers, including representatives from the academe and private sector from across the Asia-Pacific region as well as from international organizations such as the International Trade Centre and the Asian Development Bank, have been invited to share their expertise on information technology and business process management, creative industries, and research and development services.

“Government representatives from the Apec member economies, together with their private sector counterparts will evaluate the current work on services being done in various Apec fora, and discuss how Apec could promote services in the region,” the DFA said.

Several meetings to tackle developments in the service sectors are slated. A second public-private dialogue is set at the margins of the Second Officials’ Meetings this May in Boracay. The first Regional Conference of Services Coalitions and Service Industries will be held at the margins of the Third Senior Officials’ Meeting later in the year in Cebu.

The SOM1 runs from Jan. 26 to Feb. 7 at the Clark and Subic freeport zones.