Business leaders from 21 Asia-Pacific economies met virtually this
week to discuss how to work together to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and
rebuild the region’s economies.
“We are living through the crisis of a century and strength comes
from our determination to work together,” said the Chair of the APEC Business
Advisory Council (ABAC), Rachel Taulelei.
“Overcoming the current adversity, whether restoring public
health, reopening borders, securing economic recovery or achieving more
equitable communities, demands constructive, creative and above all
collaborative approaches,” Ms Taulelei added.
“The need for this kind of coordinated thinking has been brought
home very vividly by the spectre of vaccine export restrictions; it remains
true, as it has been since the beginning of this crisis, that we all remain
vulnerable if any of us remains vulnerable,” Ms Taulelei warned.
Ms Taulelei was commenting after the first ABAC meeting of 2021,
which was opened with an address from the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Jacinda
Ardern.
“Our focus this year in ABAC is on people, place and prosperity –
in the Maori language, tangata, taiao, me te taurikura.
These three elements are all essential to creating the kind of societies we
want to live in.
“Inclusion for all people is our North Star – so we will be
working on how to ensure access for all to COVID vaccinations, essential goods
and food supplies; how small businesses can operate on a level playing field;
and how to empower women and indigenous populations for success.
“Place is about safeguarding our planet. We aspire to lead on
climate change. We will be looking for ways to accelerate the transition to a
low-carbon economy, through boosting renewable energy, encouraging innovation
and by weaning ourselves off environmentally-harmful subsidies,” Ms Taulelei
explained.
“And achieving a prosperous region, especially after the body-blows
of 2020, demands that most fundamental of APEC goals – free and open markets.
That means building a seamless Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, and
championing the World Trade Organisation, including initiatives to keep supply
chains functioning and trade flowing as well as the reopening of borders and
resumption of travel that will revive the region’s economic growth.”
Underscoring all of this is the digital economy, the Chair noted.
“Digital tools are fundamental to resilience, sustainability and inclusion,”
Rachel Taulelei observed. “Emerging technologies such as artificial
intelligence can unleash even greater opportunities – but we need a trusted,
interoperable enabling environment to realise that potential.”
Ms Taulelei noted that the APEC Putrajaya Vision, agreed by APEC
Leaders late last year, provided an imperative to act.
“Despite – or perhaps because of, the pandemic – we have the
highest possible ambitions for this year. We cannot emerge unchanged from
COVID; but nor should we want to. The Vision calls for an open, dynamic,
resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040. The road to get there
will not be easy. But the business of business is solving problems – and ABAC
is ready and eager for the challenge,” Ms Taulelei concluded.
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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 New Zealand’s leadership, ABAC is pursuing a work program
under the theme “People, Place and Prosperity” to respond to the challenge of
maintaining the economic vitality of the Asia-Pacific Region and ensure it benefits
all.
ABAC 2021 Chair is Rachel Taulelei and the Co-Chairs are Dato
Rohana Mahmood (Malaysia) and Supant Mongkolsuthree (Thailand), with five (5)
working group chairs, namely: Ho Meng Kit, Regional Economic Integration
Working Group (REIWG); Ning Gaoning, Sustainability Working Group (SWG); Julia
Torreblanca, Inclusion Working Group (IWG); Janet De Silva, Digital Working
Group (DWG); and Robert Milliner, Economy Working Group (EWG).
For
further information please contact:
Mr. Stephen Jacobi, ABAC Executive Director 2021, Mobile: +64 29
472 5502, Email: stephen@jacobi.co.nz
Mr.
Antonio Basilio, Director, ABAC Secretariat, Mobile: + 63 917 849 3351, Email:
abacsec@pfgc.ph
