23rd PECC General Meeting
10-12 September 2015, Manila, Philippines
Friday 11 September: PECC General Meeting |
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0900-1000 |
Opening Session |
1000-1030 |
Coffee Break |
1030-1200 |
Plenary Session 1: Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in the Asia-Pacific Century The 21st century was touted as the Asia-Pacific century, 15 years on with the fallout from the Global Financial Crisis still bearing over the world economy, what will the drivers of growth be in the coming 5-10 years? The structural changes taking place in major economies such as China, Japan and the United States, the growing constraints on the supply of resources and environmental concerns will have a profound impact on prospects for growth for the entire region. On the other hand, the broader adoption of new technology and new ways of conducting business may provide solutions and opportunities for growth. What role for policy reform and regional cooperation to facilitate new growth engines? |
1200-1400 |
Lunch |
1400-1530
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Plenary Session 2: Challenges of Promoting Inclusive Growth Over the past 35 years the world has witnessed an almost unprecedented increase in the creation of wealth and a reduction in global income inequality. Since 1970, the share of global income of the richest countries has gone down from 87 percent to 74 percent and the average global income has doubled from around US$4,000 to close to US$8,000. However income inequality has also been on the rise. What can be done to ensure that the next phase of growth is more inclusive? |
1530-1645
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Plenary Session 3: Mega-Regionals and the Future of the Trade System When the Philippines last hosted APEC in 1996 there were relatively few preferential trade deals among regional economies. Since then, driven by the stalling of the WTO Doha Round and impatience from the business community the trend has been towards bilateral and regional trade deals. Some of these are being consolidated in the form of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Is it now time to work towards the convergence of these agreements as suggested by a panel of experts convened by former WTO Director General Pascal Lamy ‘We recommend that WTO members engage explicitly in an exploration of ways in which preferential trade agreements and the principles underlying them could increasingly converge with the multilateral system.”
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1645-1715 |
Coffee Break |
1715-1830
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Concurrent Sessions:
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1900-2100 |
Gala Dinner |
Saturday 12 September |
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0830-1000
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Plenary Session 4: The Role of Regional Financial Cooperation in Promoting Economic Growth While the Asia-Pacific region and especially East Asia have become increasingly integrated through trade, intra-regional financial flows are more limited. What steps can be taken to promote the efficient recycling of capital through the system to promote innovative and inclusive and balanced growth in regional economies? Will we see increased use of local currencies in settlement of trade and financial transactions? |
1000-1030 |
Coffee Break |
1030-1200
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Plenary Session 5: Connectivity: Challenges for Global Value Chains While regional policy-makers remain broadly supportive of free trade and global value chains offer a quick way for economies to enter the trading system, international trade remains limited to the region’s cities and large companies. What are the priority issues that need to be addressed to ensure that more of the region’s small and medium enterprises can engage in international commerce? How can we strengthen the services sector to promote greater participation in global value chains? What strategies can second and third tier cities pursue to benefit from globalization and integration? |
1200-1230 |
Closing Session |
1230-1400 |
Lunch ASEAN and APEC Convergence The end of 2015 will mark a critical milestone in regional economic integration with the ASEAN Economic Community. At the same time APEC is just 5 years away from the Bogor Goals. When APEC was formed in 1989 all then ASEAN members were founding members ASEAN’s agreement to forming APEC was in 1989 a key diplomatic hurdle. Since only one of the new ASEAN members have joined APEC. This divergence in membership has meant that the broader Asia-Pacific institution has evolved without all of ASEAN’s members part of the process who are seen as ‘central’ to regional process. Has this weakened regional cooperation efforts? Should and how can ASEAN and APEC work more together to promote deeper regional economic integration and cooperation?
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