Business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region called
for APEC leadership and cooperation to combat the grave challenges to health
and economies posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Saving lives is obviously what matters most right
now,” said the Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), Dato Rohana
Tan Sri Mahmood. “That demands collaboration across the region on the knowledge
and the tools we need to combat the health impacts and mitigate the most severe
economic consequences in the short term,” she added. “We also need to lay the
groundwork for rapid economic recovery as the worst of the storm begins to
subside,” she said.
Dato Rohana said that ABAC has written to APEC Trade
and Foreign Ministers to urge them to lead the way in removing barriers to
trade in the essential tools needed to fight the pandemic, including medical
equipment, medicines and basic protective items such as soap, disinfectant and
personal protective equipment. She added that “Complementing this effort,
economies should facilitate trade in these critical supplies by simplifying and
expediting border procedures, and should relax the rules to allow essential
workers, including medical professionals to move across borders to serve the
areas of greatest need.”
“Underpinning all of this, APEC economies should of
course share their experiences in acting to contain the pandemic, exchange data
and research, and collaborate on public health measures,” added Dato Rohana.
Dato Rohana cautioned that actions needed to go
beyond addressing health. “This is rapidly becoming a financial and economic
crisis too,” she noted. “The impacts on workers, businesses and supply chains
are already severe. We are especially concerned about small businesses, the
self-employed and those in the informal economy, who are ill-equipped to
withstand these impacts,” said Dato Rohana. “We call on Ministers to share
ideas and collaborate on approaches to address the rapid rise in unemployment,
bankruptcies and other business challenges around liquidity, credit and tax
payments.”
Dato Rohana said that, looking to the longer term,
any eventual recovery would take longer if the engines of trade and investment
could not be re-started quickly. “We urge APEC economies to announce a
standstill on all new trade-restrictive measures for the rest of this year and
to agree concrete actions to reduce protectionism going forward,” said Dato
Rohana. “Our most vulnerable communities need to be able to access food and
other essential household products. Our businesses need to have the confidence
to re-invest and rebuild our economies. Protectionism of any sort impedes the
road to recovery,” the Chair added.
Underpinning all these efforts, ABAC called on APEC
economies to make the fullest possible use of digital technologies and
connectivity, to collaborate effectively across economies and enable a level of
economic activity to continue. “Access to resilient digital infrastructure such
as broadband, including in emerging economies, is essential. So is minimizing
barriers to cross border data flows,” Dato Rohana added.
“There is no precedent for the global shut down we
are now experiencing and no guidebook to assist us as we recover” said Dato
Rohana, “so it is critical that APEC economies work collaboratively to address
the immediate challenges and to plan for reopening of our borders as soon as
possible.”
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APEC Member Economies: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada;
Chile; China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New
Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Russia; Singapore; Chinese
Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; and Viet Nam.
ABAC was created by APEC Leaders in 1995 to be the primary voice
of business in APEC. Each economy has three members who are appointed by their
respective Leaders. They meet four times a year in preparation for the
presentation of their recommendations to the Leaders in a dialogue that is a
key event in the annual Leaders Meeting.
Under Malaysia’s leadership, ABAC is pursuing a work program
under the theme “Integration. Innovation. Inclusion.” to respond to the
challenge of maintaining the economic vitality of the Asia-Pacific Region and
ensure it benefits all.
ABAC 2020 Chair is Dato Rohana Mahmood and the Co-Chairs are
Richard von Appen (Chile) and Rachel Taulelei (New Zealand), with five (5)
working group chairs, namely: Sir Rod Eddington, Regional Economic Integration
Working Group (REIWG); Nobuhide Hayashi, Finance & Economics Working Group
(FEWG); Hafimi Abdul Haadi, MSME & Entrepreneurship Working Group
(MSMEEWG); Ning Gaoning, Sustainable Development Working Group; and Peggy
Johnson, Digital & Innovation Working Group (DIWG)
For further information please contact:
Ms. Noraishah Mohammad Shamsudin, ABAC Malaysia Centre, Tel:
+6012-2681419, Email: noraishah@abacmalaysia.org.my Mr. Antonio Basilio,
Director, ABAC Secretariat, Tel: (63 2) 8845 4564, Email: abacsec@pfgc.ph
