APEC members adopt structural reform agenda

ASIA-PACIFIC Economic Cooperation (APEC) members yesterday adopted a three-pronged structural reform agenda aimed at removing barriers to doing business and translate to more inclusive growth across economies.

The 21-member bloc yesterday committed to implement the Renewed APEC Agenda for Structural Reforms (RAASR), a five-year road map which will be implemented on a voluntary basis starting next year.

“We note the uncertainty that continues to cloud the global economic scene. Although there are signs of recovery, the residual effects of the global financial crisis are still evident in many economies, even as new forms of trade and investment protectionism are on the rise,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, who chaired this year’s Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting (SRMM), said in a briefing at the close of the two-day meeting.

“For this reason, we agreed in our meeting that we need a much stronger focus on promoting economic growth through structural reform,” he added.

The RAASR aims to achieve inclusive growth by implementing three pillars:

• “more open, well-functioning, transparent and competitive markets

• deeper participation in those markets by all segments of society, including MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), women, youth, older workers and people with disabilities; and

• sustainable social policies that promote the above mentioned objectives, enhance economic resiliency, and are well-targeted, effective and non-discriminatory.”

The APEC Policy Support Unit will monitor the progress of economies based on measurable indicators and will review its implementation in 2018 and 2020.

In a primer, the National Economic and Development Authority said structural reform pertains to changing government policies to ease economic transactions and eliminate complex regulations that discourage businesses from putting up shop in the country or elsewhere.

Structural reforms also include promoting competition and levelling the playing field.

The new direction for structural reform across APEC economies builds on previous efforts such as the Leaders’ Agenda to Implement Structural Reform (LAISR) and the subsequent APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform (ANSSR).

“Because structural reform is an ongoing process rather than a one-off event, we agree that the initiatives begun under ANSSR ought to be continued. We further note that a sharpening of the focus of APEC’s structural reform goals is needed, rather than a drastic departure from the existing APEC framework for structural reform,” the statement noted.

“We assert that economies should pursue both goals of reducing inequality and stimulating balanced and sustainable growth, which are complementary in the long-run,” it added.

Mr. Balisacan also said the APEC economies agreed to recommend to its leaders to achieve an aspirational 10% improvement in five priority ease of doing business areas: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, trading across borders, getting credit and enforcing contracts.

“On Ease of Doing Business or EoDB, we agreed with, and further recommend to APEC Economic Leaders to affirm, the new aspirational goal of a 10% improvement by 2018 in the existing five priority EoDB areas. We also agreed with and endorse the APEC EoDB Action Plan 2016-2018 to APEC Economic Leaders for their consideration,” Mr. Balisacan said.

“An APEC LAISR Implementation Plan will also be drafted and used, to guide capacity building over the next three years,” it added.

The two-day Structural Reform Ministerial Meetings focused on the region’s economic reform agenda, overcoming the middle-income trap and continuing the structural work program until 2020, Mr. Balisacan said. –Mikhail Franz E. Flores, Senior Reporter, Businessworld