Economic Committee - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
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Economic Committee

  

As tariffs have declined in the APEC region, attention has gradually shifted to the structural and regulatory obstacles that inhibit cross-border trade and investment by creating behind-the-border barriers to doing business.

The Economic Committee (EC) works to remove these obstacles by promoting structural reform within APEC. Structural reform consists of improvements made to institutional frameworks, regulations and government policies so that the efficient functioning of markets is supported, and behind-the-border barriers are reduced.

In 2004, APEC Leaders endorsed an ambitious work programme called the Leaders' Agenda to Implement Structural Reform 2010 (LAISR). The agenda covers five areas for structural policy reform: regulatory reform, competition policy, public sector governance, corporate governance, and strengthening economic and legal infrastructure.

The EC was established in 1994 and meets twice a year. The EC also works closely with other relevant APEC fora including the Competition Policy and Law Group and the Finance Ministers' Process.
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Achievements

Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting 2008
An inaugural Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting (SRMM) was held in August 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. Ministers explored strategies for successful implementation of structural reforms and stressed the importance of robust legislative and institutional frameworks. They also engaged in a dialogue with business and considered the importance of structural reform to the private sector.

Economic Committee Initiatives in 2009 and 2010
The following initiatives and activities were carried out by the EC in 2009 and in the first few months of 2010:

  • The EC identified five priority areas for regulatory reform in APEC economies, namely: starting a business, getting credit, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and dealing with permits. These priority areas are the focus of the APEC "Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Action Plan". The Action Plan sets an APEC-wide aspirational target to make it 25 percent cheaper, faster and easier to do business within APEC economies by 2015, with an interim target of a 5 percent improvement by 2011. The next steps are for APEC economies to set targets to measure results, and for "champion economies" to develop capacity building programmes to carry out the necessary regulatory reforms in the five priority areas.
  • A seminar on "Regulatory Reform to Improve the Domestic Business Environment" was held in Singapore in February 2009. The seminar, which was jointly organised by the EC and the Investment Experts Group (IEG), provided an opportunity for APEC officials and experts to exchange ideas on how to drive effective regulatory reforms to improve the domestic business environment. During the seminar, the World Bank provided an update on the "EC-World Bank Study on Measuring the Ease of Doing Business in APEC". This Study was subsequently endorsed by the EC in June.
  • An APEC Training Course on "Corporate Governance" was held in Hanoi, Viet Nam in July 2009. Participants discussed challenges and exchanged knowledge about corporate governance systems in the region.
  • An APEC Workshop on "Improving Public Consultation in the Rulemaking Process" was held in Jakarta, Indonesia in October 2009. Participants discussed the benefits of public consultation and how it influences regulatory transparency.
  • An APEC Workshop on "Implementing OECD Principles on Corporate Governance" was held in Singapore in November 2009. Participants discussed the steps APEC economies can take to implement the Principles, and the benefits and challenges involved. They also discussed how the public and private sectors can work cooperatively on implementation.
  • As instructed by APEC Trade Ministers, the EC provided its views on the concept of "Inclusive Growth" to APEC Senior Officials in November 2009. "Inclusive Growth", which seeks to ensure that the benefits of economic growth are spread more widely, was extensively discussed during the EC's second meeting of 2009.
  • In collaboration with the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) and the Transportation Working Group, the EC contributed to the development of APEC's Supply-chain Connectivity (SC) Framework which identified eight priority chokepoints in regional supply chains and recommended actions to address these chokepoints. The Framework was endorsed by APEC Ministers in November 2009.
  • The 2009 APEC Economic Policy Report was published. With a focus on regulatory reform, the report reviews individual economies' domestic regulatory reforms and identifies key priorities and challenges for future years.
  • Japan and Hong Kong, China co-organised a seminar on "Impacts of Structural Reform and LAISR Stocktake", which was held in Hiroshima, Japan, in February 2010. The seminar covered three areas: first, the issue of structural reforms in the telecommunications, transport and energy sectors in APEC; second, an examination of the impacts of those reforms, drawing on the findings of a PSU research project; and third, a stocktake of the progress that has been made in implementing the LAISR.
  • An APEC Workshop on "Reducing Start-up and Establishment Time of Businesses" was held in Hiroshima, Japan, in March 2010, as part of "Phase 1" of the EoDB Action Plan. The workshop discussed how the regulatory environment can affect the process of starting a business, the economic benefits of facilitating business start-up, and the experiences of both developing and developed economy members when trying to streamline processes for starting a business.

Current Activities

The first EC meeting of 2010 was held in Hiroshima, Japan, from 26-27 February. One of the key issues discussed at the meeting was the shape of a "post-LAISR agenda", given that the current LAISR expires at the end of 2010. The five structural reform themes of the LAISR were regarded as continuing to be relevant, though consideration is also being given to new issues that a post-LAISR agenda might cover, including issues that might arise out of an APEC Growth Strategy. A post-LAISR issues paper reflecting the discussions in the EC is being prepared and will be submitted to the second APEC Senior Officials' Meeting in May 2010.

APEC Senior Officials have assigned responsibility to the EC to monitor implementation of the EoDB Action Plan. Singapore has agreed to lead a small group within EC that would monitor and review APEC's progress towards the EoDB Action Plan targets.

In July 2009, the EC agreed on a process to begin evaluating member economies' institutional frameworks and processes for structural reform. A volunteer economy is currently being sought so that the the first review can be carried out sometime in 2010.

Work is under way on the preparation of the 2010 APEC Economic Policy Report, which will focus on the subject of corporate governance.

A stock-take of work completed under LAISR is currently being undertaken, and the results - which will also draw on some of the findings in the EC Seminar on "Impacts of Structural Reform and LAISR Stocktake" mentioned above - will be reported to APEC Leaders in November.

The term of the current EC Chair, Dr Takashi Omori, concludes this year. Nominations are currently being sought for a successor EC Chair for the 2011-2012 term.


Economic Committee (EC) - Key Contacts

Chair
Dr Takashi OMORI
Member of Statistical Commission, Japanese Government
Policy Advisor, Cabinet Office
3-1-1 Kasumigaseki
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Tel: +81-3-3581-5469
Email: takashi.omori@cao.go.jp

APEC Secretariat
Mr Stephen Wong
Director (Program)
E-mail: sw@apec.org
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Reviewed on: 25 June 2010