Day 3 of SOM 2 APEC meeting overview

Ha Noi, Viet Nam, May 11, 2017 – This morning, the third working day of the SOM 2 Conference and related meetings took place with activities of the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG), Subcommittee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC), Automotive Dialogue (AD), Mining Task Force (MTF) and Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI).Following up the meetings in SOM 1, PPSTI held its first activity in SOM 2. The meeting focused on reviewing existing projects’ progress and proposing new initiatives in the areas of natural hazards science and supporting STI ecosystems in the APEC region. In the afternoon, delegates were split into three sub-groups to discuss capacity building, innovation and connectivity.At the AD meeting, delegates focused their discussion on improving the business climate for further cooperation among APEC auto-industries. Participants also reviewed ongoing projects and evaluated the effects of current laws and regulations, and discussed the applications of new technologies to promote the automotive industry.At the HRDWG’s Workshop on “Digital Age: The World of Work and Labour Market Information”, delegates shared the opportunities and challenges of the Technology Revolution 4.0. to the Asia – Pacific area and discussed solution to prepare governments, employees and employers to face the impacts of the future labor market. Two other workshops on “Healthy Women, Healthy Economies” and “Action Plan of the APEC Education Strategy” were also being held under the HRDWG.

Today is the second day of the MTF meeting. Delegates listened to the annual report on the progress of mining and discussed the MTF Action Plan and the Strategic Plan 2016 – 2018.

The CTI today held the “Workshop on SMEs’ Integration into Global Value Chains in Services Industries – Fashion Design”, aiming to improve the understanding of members of the global value chain of fashion design and develop appropriate policies to encourage the development of this industry. At the meeting, delegates shared the opportunities and challenges that enterprises encountered in the integration process and provided recommendations and possible solutions to overcome those challenges.

As part of the implementation of the ESAP, the Trade Policy Dialogue on Environmental Services also took place today. This workshop is an opportunity for APEC economies to share key issues on environmental services trade, the classification of environmental services as well as the prospect of this industry in the future. Potential environmental services such as environmental damage remediation services, water business or renewable energy business were discussed during the workshop.In the framework of SCSC, the “Workshop on Modernization of Food Safety Control Systems” and “Wine Regulatory Forum Technical Meeting” were held. Specific opportunities and challenges regarding food control and wine regulatory were discussed. Delegates also lay down principles that need to be established to promote APEC cooperation.

Source: APEC2017.VN