Enhancing the capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to resist, absorb, and recover from the effects of natural disasters in a timely and efficient manner is key to achieving inclusive growth in the APEC region.

SMEs are considered engines of growth and employment in the APEC region. Over 97 percent of businesses in APEC are SMEs, providing jobs to more than half of the workers in the Asia-Pacific region. However, APEC member-countries are prone to intense natural disasters. APEC’s 21 member-economies, which account for 52 percent of the earth’s surface and 59 percent of the world’s population, experience over 70 percent of global natural disasters.

 

Contributed by the APEC Secretariat

 

Boracay, the Philippines, 13 May 2015 – Leading academics and policy makers recommended strategies for APEC to accelerate regional economic integration and inclusive growth in the Asia-Pacific at a two-day APEC Study Centers Consortium Conference in Boracay, ahead of the APEC Second Senior Officials’ and Trade Ministers’ meetings.

 

The annual conference offers an opportunity for policy researchers from over 50 APEC Study Centers, universities and think tanks to share their analyses on how APEC can achieve its key 2015 priorities, including increasing services trade in the region and realizing the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), as well as bolstering small and medium enterprises and investing in human capital development.

 

BORACAY ISLAND—Research plays a crucial role in raising awareness and facilitating discussions of important Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)-related issues and processes to help support the vision and goals of APEC.

In his keynote address at the opening of the 2015 APEC Study Centers Consortium (ASCC) Conference in Boracay Island on May 12, Deputy Director-General Rolando G. Tungpalan of the National Economic and Development Authority noted that the APEC study centers have been instrumental in fostering regional cooperation among tertiary and research institutes in the APEC region through the promotion of increased academic collaboration on key regional economic challenges.

 

by NEDA Deputy Director-General Rolando G. Tungpalan

 

for the

2015 APEC STUDY CENTERS CONSORTIUM CONFERENCE

Crown Regency Resort, Boracay, Philippines

May 12, 2015

 

          Undersecretary Ferdinand Cui, Vice Chair of the 2015 APEC Senior Officials’Meeting; Philippine Institute for Development Studies President and Chair of the 2015 APEC Study Centers Consortium Conference Gilberto Llanto; Vice Chair Erlinda Medalla; Executive Director Alan Bollard of the APEC Secretariat represented by Dr. Akhmad Bayhaqi; Dean Fernando Aldaba of the Ateneo de Manila University; Deputy Dean Bokhwan Yu of the Asian Development Bank Institute; government officials; APEC Study Centers’researchers and scholars; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen; good morning and welcome to Boracay.

Enhancing the ability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to take advantage of trade opportunities and be able to participate in the regional and global markets is one of the highlights of this year’s conference of the APEC Study Centers Consortium (ASCC).

Slated for May 12-13, the ASCC Conference serves as an avenue for researchers and scholars to discuss and exchange ideas on the APEC themes and to identify areas for regional collaboration among APEC Study Centers. The conference is organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and the Philippine APEC Study Center Network (PASCN) in cooperation with the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). It is part of the Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) and Related Meetings of APEC which will be held in Boracay, Aklan.