APEC ministers to tackle structural reform in Cebu

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=3&rid=796800
• Tuesday, August 25, 2015

(PNA), RMA/PR-NEDA/EBP

MANILA, Aug. 25 (PNA) -- In a bid to enhance regional economic integration, ministers from 21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies will meet in Cebu City on Sept. 7 and 8 to review APEC’s structural reform efforts and set the post-2015 agenda of the region.

The APEC Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting (SRMM), to be chaired by Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, will focus primarily on addressing issues that impede inclusive growth.

“Guided by this year’s theme, our priority is to facilitate inclusiveness, not only in the regional sense but also within economies. The APEC region has been growing rapidly as a whole but this is in many cases shared unevenly across societies,” said Balisacan.

At the SRMM, the ministers will discuss key issues including challenges in implementing structural reform, their respective economies’ priorities, and areas of collaboration.

Speakers from the APEC Secretariat and the World Bank will also speak on regulatory reform and cooperation on services. This will be followed by a panel discussion among ministers and heads of delegations on the challenges in undertaking structural reform.

Discussions of the SRMM will revolve around five themes. These are 1.) Structural Reform for Inclusive Growth; 2.) Structural Reform and Innovation; 3.) Structural Reform and Services; 4.) Tools for Structural Reform; and 5.) New Directions for Structural Reform in APEC.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers will adopt a post-2015 APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform (ANSSR), which will further enhance the efforts and focus of structural reform initiatives from 2016 to 2020.

NEDA Deputy Director-General Emmanuel F. Esguerra will head the Philippine delegation to this year’s Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting (2nd SRMM). The first meeting was held in 2008 in Australia.