MANY Filipinos have equated the country’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings with horrible traffic, cancelled flights, and the removal of homeless persons along areas where visiting foreign dignitaries would pass.
For militant groups such as the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, the P10-billion year-long hosting of 229 Apec meetings and the cosmetic changes in Metro Manila for this week’s Economic Leaders’ Meeting only resulted in policies that would benefit rich economies while leaving impoverished ones behind.
But for Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., the gains from the annual dialog among the 21 member-economies for the Philippines are wide-reaching and long-term.
As a general rule, each one of these visitors creates one new job, Aquino said.
“The 11,000-strong delegation from the member-economies, including their leaders, their senior officials, business leaders and even their media, will return to their respective countries with the impression that the Philippines is a country that is able to host such a big event professionally, that we are a credible partner in trade and investment, and that our efforts at good governance ensure consistency in the agreements they sign with us,” Coloma said.
“These footprints are potentially deep and long-lasting, and with our solid performance in hosting Apec, you could say that going into the last semester of the Aquino administration, we are finishing on a high note,” he added.
Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., director general of the Apec National Organizing Council, said the inconvenience experienced by Filipinos with the hosting can be considered their “contribution” to the long-term gains that the country will reap.
“Some people ask, what will we get out of Apec? From 1989 to 2014, Apec economies collectively grew eight percent annually. Also, 80 percent of our foreign trade is with these economies. So everybody grows as Apec grows,” Paynor said.
“As for the P10 billion spent for the year-long hosting, much of that money was plowed back to our economy. We spent it, for example, for feeding the 15,000 cops we have deployed. So there is a multiplier effect. In a way, you could say it was a pump-priming of our economy,” he added.
Coloma said Apec’s focus on micro, small and medium enterprises is significant for the Philippines where MSMEs comprise over 99 percent of all business enterprises and account for 63.7 percent of total employment.
A Philippine-led initiative on disaster risk reduction contained in the 2015 Manila Declaration is also considered a first for Apec, with its economies located in the Pacific Ring of Fire that makes them particularly vulnerable and exposed to disasters.
“The DRR Framework aims to develop climate-proof, resilient and sustainable communities, considering Apec member countries are located along the Pacific Ring of Fire that are vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. Many member-economies are also gravely affected by climate change like extreme typhoons and El Niño droughts,” said Doris Magsaysay-Ho, chairperson of the Apec Business Advisory Council.
With the Manila Declaration, Apec leaders have tasked their respective ministers to craft an action plan in 2016 to operationalize the DRR Framework.
Bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Apec week also proved fruitful for the Philippines, starting with the pronouncement of United States President Barack Obama that Washington will give two vessels—a decommissioned US Coast Guard cutter that will be turned into a new warship and a research vessel to help the Philippines map its territorial waters.
The country also forged a strategic partnership agreement with Vietnam, which includes deeper defense cooperation amid the ongoing territorial row with China.
A comprehensive partnership agreement was also signed by President Benigno Aquino III with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, paving the way for closer cooperation in the political, economic, defense and security, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism fields. The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in technical vocational education and training.
Aquino also signed two agreements on trade and the campaign against illegal drugs with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, while he asked South Korean President Park Gyeun-Hye to “positively consider” proposed amendments to an existing Social Security Agreement to maximize the benefits and protection enjoyed by migrant workers from both countries.
The Philippines also forged an agreement with Japan that would ensure workers from both countries enjoy social security protection during the bilateral meeting between Aquino and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two leaders also witnessed the exchange of notes of the North-South Commuter Railway Project Phase I (Malolos-Tutuban) which Japan is funding.
The Philippines also secured the support of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada for the country’s possible inclusion in the Washington-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The TPP, which seeks to lower trade barriers to goods and services and set common standards in trade, covers about 40 percent of the world economy, covering Brunei, Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada, and Japan.
Aquino closed the Apec 2015 Summit and cited two economic frameworks agreed upon by the 21-member economies.
“At today’s Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting, we agreed on the overarching frameworks under which we will pursue these plans,” said Aquino, in his statement delivered during the press conference at the International Media Center, World Trade Center, Pasay City.
First, Aquino said, they adopted the Apec Strategy for Strengthening Quality Growth.
This is a framework that will guide the 21-member economies in undertaking robust, comprehensive, and ambitious structural reforms over the next five years.
“We will focus our reform efforts, and measure our progress, in terms of institution building, social cohesion, and environmental impact. We do this with the awareness that the world economy continues to confront significant risk and uncertainty, even as trade growth is slowing down, thus impressing upon all of us, the need to tap into new opportunities for economic growth,” said Aquino.
Aquino said this strategy will help Apec promote increased growth through structural reform.
Second, Aquino said, the leaders approved the Apec Services Cooperation Framework.
The service sector, Aquino said, makes up about two-thirds of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the Apec region, and “we need to put more emphasis and thought into making this sector even more competitive.”
“This framework will lead to a goal-driven roadmap for us to achieve over the next decade, to help the sector thrive,” Aquino said.
The President said, it has been 19 years since the Philippines last hosted Apec.
“This year, I am proud to have continued our success as hosts by laying the foundations on which Apec can chart a course to improve trade and strengthen quality growth. I thank my fellow Apec leaders for their collaborative efforts and positive spirit as we worked together towards the goals that we share, and our cooperation gives us optimism that we can achieve greater progress sooner rather than later,” he said.
Throughout the year, representatives from all member economies held 229 meetings in different areas of the Philippines to advance the individual economies and the region at large.
Aquino cited the Boracay Action Agenda, which will help micro, small, and medium enterprises access the global and regional markets.
Complementing this was the Cebu Action Plan, which will widen entrepreneurial access to financial markets. Among its other benefits will be lowering the cost of remittances.
A number of leaders also expressed their support for the Philippines joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, once it comes into force, Aquino said.
“This is a very encouraging sign; we of course want to join the TPP because it offers access to a far larger market. The USA and Australia, among other economies, expressed their support for this particular endeavor,” Aquino.
“Apart from that, we were also pleased to hear the news that the USA would be turning over to the Philippines a research vessel and a coast guard cutter which will boost the capabilities of our Navy,” he said.
The President said, over the past week, the Philippines welcomed more than 11,000 people to the country, including those from the Apec Business Advisory Council, which traces its origins to the APEC Summit in Subic in 1996 in the Philippines.
This number is more than double the attendance of the Philippines’ previous hosting.
