11 February 2016 - Preparations are underway for the Philippine participation in the APEC 2016 First Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) and Related Meetings, which will be held from February 20 to March 04 in Lima, Peru.

Using the APEC 2015 Leaders’ Declaration and Joint Ministerial Statement as guidance, the Philippines will not only continue to build on APEC’s ongoing work, but will also pursue, monitor, and sustain the initiatives it introduced last year under the inclusive growth agenda.

As the first comprehensive Senior Officials’ Meeting for the year, the Philippine delegation to the various APEC technical working groups and committees will discuss how to implement and advance APEC 2015 initiatives, and how to align these with the APEC 2016 theme “Quality Growth and Human Development.”

Notable outcomes that the Philippines will pursue this year include:

• the development of a long-term competitiveness roadmap on services, which stems from the APEC Services Cooperation Framework adopted by the 21 APEC Leaders last year;

• the launching and assessment of pilot health initiatives under the Philippine-led Healthy Asia-Pacific 2020 Roadmap;

• crafting an action plan to operationalize the APEC 2015 Disaster Risk Reduction Framework; and

• the first-year implementation of the Boracay Action Agenda that will help boost the entry of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in regional and global markets.

The Philippine delegation to SOM1 will be led by Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo. Joining him are representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the DTI, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Customs (BOC), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), and Office of the Ombudsman (OB), among others.

Peru, as APEC 2016 host, will continue to build on APEC’s inclusive growth agenda through its theme, “Quality Growth and Human Development,” and four priorities: 1) advancing regional economic integration and quality growth; 2) enhancing the regional food market; 3) towards the modernization of micro, small and medium-size enterprises in the Asia-Pacific and; 4) developing human capital.

The Philippines notes with pride that Peru’s four 2016 priorities build on the APEC 2015 priorities and achievements as a testament to Peru’s commitment to advance the work the Philippines shepherded last year, especially the Leaders’ APEC Strategy for Strengthening Quality Growth. Peru, like the Philippines, will continue to put premium on both APEC’s trade and development objectives.

The Philippines turned over the APEC Chairmanship to Peru at the Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM) in Lima last December, including the turnover of a Tasking Statement for 2016 listing the next steps for the Philippines’ APEC 2015 initiatives. END