Bali, Indonesia, 5 Oct 2013
2013 APEC Ministerial Meeting
Joint Ministerial Statement
1. We, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers, met on 4-5 October 2013, in Bali, Indonesia. The
meeting was co-chaired by H.E. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia and H.E. Gita
Wirjawan, Minister for Trade of Indonesia.
2. We welcomed the participation in the meeting of Director General of the WTO, Chair of the APEC Business Advisory
Council (ABAC), Secretary General of ASEAN, co-chairs of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), representative
of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and representative of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).
3. We assembled today to reiterate our shared commitment towards a seamless regional economy and to continue our
course to integrate to grow and to innovate to prosper. We reviewed the current state of affairs in the Asia-Pacific
region, assessed the progress made this year, and discussed the way forward for APEC to ensure the Asia-Pacific region
remains resilient and to fulfill our role as the engine of the global growth. Under the APEC 2013 theme of “Resilient
Asia Pacific, Engine of Global Growth,” we are committed to deepen our efforts towards attaining the Bogor Goals,
promoting connectivity, and achieving sustainable growth with equity.
State of the Region
4. Our economies have taken a number of important policy actions that have helped to contain key tail risks,
improve financial market conditions and sustain the recovery. Nevertheless, global growth is too weak, risks remain
titled to the downside, and the economic outlook suggests growth is likely to be slower and less balanced than desired.
We recognized the importance of a comprehensive series of structural reforms so to increase productivity, labor force
participation and high quality job creation. We will work to achieve stronger and sustainable recovery by, among others,
ensuring fiscal sustainability, building human capacity through education and training, boosting domestic sources of
growth, increasing domestic savings, providing sources of trade financing and enhancing competitiveness.
5. We are committed to strengthening transparency and sharing information on macroeconomic policies, and to working
together to promote common development in Asia-Pacific region.
6. We are determined to strengthen our cooperation to realize a strong and resilient region with the ability to
recover swiftly from economic turbulence, so our region could contribute as the locomotive of global economic growth.
With this in mind, we discussed the following outcomes under APEC 2013’s priority areas.
APEC in the Evolving Cooperative Architecture
7. We reviewed Asia Pacific’s cooperation architecture and noted the development and growing numbers of
international and regional cooperation fora and processes. We underscored the importance of enhancing APEC’s deeper
engagement, mutual reinforcement, synergy and complementarity with these processes so as to ensure a more effective
approach in solving complex cross-border challenges, as well as to seize opportunities, such as sustainable development
and connectivity. We tasked officials to discuss and make concrete suggestions on ways to take this forward in 2014.
Attaining the Bogor Goals
8. We reaffirmed our commitment to attaining the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the
Asia-Pacific by 2020 and to address the work that remains to be done as identified in 2010. We welcomed the progress
made this year in supporting the multilateral trading system and strengthening and deepening our regional economic
integration by addressing barriers to trade and investment. We endorsed the 2013 APEC Committee on Trade and Investment
(CTI) Annual Report to Ministers.
Supporting the Multilateral Trading System
9. We exchanged views on efforts to strengthen the multilateral trading system, and we highly valued the update by
the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the current state of WTO negotiations and preparations for
the 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali.
10. We reaffirmed our commitment to keep markets open and to refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to
trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing WTO-inconsistent measures in all areas,
including those that stimulate exports. In support of this commitment, we recommended that our Leaders extend through
the end of 2016 our standstill commitment to fight against protectionist measures and our resolve to roll back
protectionist and trade distorting measures.
11. We reaffirmed our commitment to the rules based multilateral trading system and the WTO as its preeminent forum.
In this regard, we reiterated our collective resolve to achieve successful and balanced outcomes at the 9th WTO
Ministerial Conference in Bali, including agreement on trade facilitation, some elements of agriculture and development,
including issues of interest to LDCs. Success at Bali would provide a stepping stone to the full conclusion of DDA,
consistent with its mandate and its development dimension. We support the new intensified WTO workplan set out by the
Director General and urged Members to come to the table with flexibility and political will.
12. We encouraged the swift conclusion of negotiations to expand product coverage of the WTO Information Technology
Agreement (ITA) before MC9, and also seek expanded membership of the ITA. A final ITA expansion outcome should be
commercially significant, credible, pragmatic, balanced, and reflective of the dynamic technological developments in the
information technology sector over the last 16 years. Such an outcome would strengthen the multilateral trading system,
promote connectivity, support regional economic integration, and drive economic development throughout APEC economies
and beyond.
13. We recognized accession of new members to the WTO on appropriate terms as one of the priorities for the WTO,
which leads to enhanced openness of the markets and thus increased opportunities for both present members and acceding
countries. We emphasized the utmost importance of moving forward negotiations on accessions towards their finalization
as a supportive symbol of credibility and strength of the WTO as a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system.
Advancing Trade and Investment Liberalization
14. In promoting stronger and deeper regional economic integration and advancing work in trade and investment
liberalization, we will continue to work to achieve sustainable, balanced, inclusive, and innovative growth in the
Asia-Pacific region and take steps to advance towards achievement of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific. We
highlighted the importance of assisting developing economies to achieve the Bogor Goals by 2020 while working to ensure
the benefits of liberalization are shared by all. We also encouraged developed economies to take more concrete actions
towards attaining Bogor Goals, according to the outcomes of the Report on APEC’s 2010 Economies’ Progress towards the
Bogor Goals.
15. We recalled the Leaders’ commitment in 2010 to undertake concrete, practical, and measurable steps to realize an
economically-integrated community in APEC. We instructed officials to review in 2014 our progress towards the Bogor
Goals by providing complete information in the Individual Action Plans as directed by the Bogor Goals Progress Report
Guidelines endorsed in 2011.
16. We reaffirmed the pledge made by our Leaders in Honolulu 2011 and Vladivostok 2012 against protectionism and
rollback of protectionist and trade-distorting measures. We welcomed the individual progress made by APEC economies on
non-tariff measures (NTMs) and instructed our official to advance their work to address them.
17. In 2012, we instructed officials to further study in 2013 the impact of local content requirements (LCRs) on
regional integration and economic growth, and to discuss trade enhancing ways through which economies can promote job
creation and competitiveness goals. In 2013, to fulfill this instruction, we agreed on the APEC Best Practices to Create
Jobs and Increase Competitiveness (see Annex F).
Promoting Trade in Services
18. We recognized the critical contribution of services to global trade, and the importance of strong, open and
competitive service sectors as drivers of economic activity, growth and job creation. We welcomed APEC’s ongoing work to
increase the transparency of services trade-related regulations as well as to identify good practices to facilitate
services trade and investment and foster the development of open services markets. We commended the practical,
business-oriented work examining regulation, trade and investment in various services sectors across the APEC region,
including in the areas of financial services, cross-border education, retail services and logistics services.
19. We welcomed the expansion of the APEC Services Trade Access Requirements (STAR) Database and encouraged the
further development of this resource as an important tool for business in accessing new services export markets. We also
welcomed APEC’s work on improving statistical data collection on services trade, including implementation of the Action
Plan on Statistics on Trade in Services, recognizing that the importance of services is not adequately reflected in
traditional trade statistics.
20. We welcomed the public-private dialogue on services conducted this year and encouraged further engagement
between government, private sector and academia to address impediments to services trade growth in the Asia-Pacific
region, including through conducting similar public-private dialogues in the future.
Facilitating Investment
21. We encouraged economies to strengthen ways and means to increase investment flows and maintain economic growth
in the Asia-Pacific. To this end, we welcomed the progress made by economies in implementing the APEC Investment
Facilitation Action Plan (IFAP).
22. We welcomed the public-private dialogue on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and case studies on sustainable
investment, and encourage officials to work with the private sector to build and improve upon CSR practices.
Promoting Green Growth
23. We endorsed the Proposal on Capacity-Building Activities to Assist Implementation of APEC’s Environmental Goods
Commitments, and instruct officials to focus capacity-building where needed as economies implement the APEC Leaders’
commitment to reduce tariffs on the 54 products in the APEC List of Environmental Goods.
24. We established APEC Public-Private Partnership on Environmental Goods and Services (PPEGS), and instructed
officials to use this new forum as a platform for enhanced dialogue in this sector. We look forward to the first meeting
of the PPEGS and to the dialogue on clean and renewable energy in 2014.
25. We committed to strengthen regional cooperation on trade and environmental matters in the region and to share
our practices for RTAs in this area.
26. We recognized the importance of additional work to explore trade in goods, which contribute to sustainable and
inclusive growth through rural development and poverty alleviation. We instructed officials to carry out a PSU study on
this topic.
Promoting Industrial Dialogues on Automotives, Life Sciences and Chemicals
27. We underscored the importance of promoting dialogues with industrial partners to enrich our discussion and
provide concrete deliverables and innovative solutions to contribute to attaining the Bogor Goals.
28. We noted work to enhance the participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the automotive sector and
instructed officials to develop ways to facilitate trade and investment in green automotive technologies.
29. We welcomed the continued progress to align and strengthen regulatory procedures for medical products (both
drugs and devices) according to international best practices. This includes steps to promote regulatory sciences through
the establishment of an Innovative Center of Excellence for the evaluation of multi-regional clinical trials, partnering
with the World Health Organization (WHO) on the development of a Good Review Practices document and continued progress
in implementing the multi-year roadmap on medical product quality and supply chain integrity.
30. We also welcomed the Chemical Regulator’s Forum Action Plan for 2014 to 2015, and welcomed work on regulatory
cooperation and convergence; participation in the establishment of the global non mandatory list of chemicals classified
according to the Global Harmonized System of classification and labeling of chemicals (GHS) lead by UN Sub-Committee of
Experts on GHS; strengthening industry’s role as an innovative solutions provider; and chemical product stewardship,
safe use and sustainability.
Addressing Next Generation Trade and Investment Issues
31. We remain committed to address the next-generation trade and investment issues as one of the important steps to
achieving the Bogor Goals and to our work to provide leadership and intellectual input into the process of developing
Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). We instructed officials to continue to address the 2011 and 2012 next
generation trade and investment issues. including by finalizing the APEC Innovation and Trade Implementation Practices
as soon as possible. We also encouraged economies to identify additional next generation trade and investment issues for
work in 2014 and beyond.
Exploring a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP)
32. We reaffirm our commitment to achieve a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, including by continuing APEC’s work
to provide leadership and intellectual input into the process of regional economic integration. APEC has an important
role to play in coordinating information sharing, transparency, and capacity buuilding, and will hold a policy dialogue
on regional RTA/FTAs. We agreed to enhance communication among regional RTAs/FTAs, as well as increase the capacity of
APEC economies to engage in substantive negotiations.
33. We encouraged officials to advance the Regional Economic Integration (REI) Capacity-building Needs Initiative
(CBNI) Action Plan Framework including in the areas of non-conforming measures, government procurement, safeguards, and
dispute settlement proceedings, as a key delivery mechanism for the technical assistance needed to one day make the
FTAAP a reality.
Facilitating Trade Financing
34. We recognized that increasing trade finance and risk reduction during crisis is important to support global
recovery and growth. We welcomed the study by APEC Policy Support Unit based on its survey on the recent trends in trade
finance in the region. We recognized the work of the Basel Committee to ensure appropriate risk weights for financing
activities, including trade finance. We also noted that SMEs face a number of obstacles in accessing finance related to
their limited resources and perceived risks by lenders. We encourage financial institutions to enhance trade financing
and continue to support trade in the Asia-Pacific region.
Promoting Connectivity
35. We reiterated our Leaders’ commitment in 2010 that envisioned the realization of an APEC community. We shared
the view that seamless physical, institutional, and people-to-people connectivity are critical prerequisites to achieve
the Bogor Goals and attain the APEC community vision. We welcomed the progress made in promoting connectivity in APEC in
2013, and submitted a strategic and long-term APEC Framework on Connectivity to be adopted by Leaders.
36. We welcomed the study on the current state of our connectivity by the APEC Policy Support Unit (PSU). We
encouraged economies to take into account the findings as the basis of future endeavor under the Framework.
Promoting Infrastructure Development and Investment
37. We recognized the importance of well-designed, sustainable and resilient physical infrastructure in enhancing
the connectivity of our region, addressing supply-chain chokepoints, increasing productivity, and providing significant
positive flow-on effects including in access to markets, job creation and economic growth across sectors.
38. We endorsed the multi-year plan on infrastructure development and investment that aims to assist economies to
improve the investment environment, promote public-private partnerships, and enhance government capacity and
coordination in preparing and executing infrastructure projects. Improvement in these areas would increase the supply of
commercially viable projects. We highlighted the importance of an APEC-wide approach in carrying the work forward in the
2013-2016 period and submitted the APEC Multi-Year Plan on Infrastructure Development and Investment to be adopted by
Leaders.
39. We recognized the uneven financing capacity across APEC region in the public sector. We also noted the growing
importance of the role of private sector in infrastructure development and investment. We encouraged efforts to
strengthen partnership involving government, private sector and international institutions to explore and improve
infrastructure financing and investment. In this light, we welcomed the development of Public-Private Partnership
Guidebook as a tool to facilitate the development and investment in infrastructure through providing a general overview
of APEC economies’ PPP processes and requirements and the practical guidance that this may offer the APEC PPP Expert
Advisory Panel and pilot PPP centre in Indonesia that Finance Ministers agreed to establish in September 2013.
Improving Supply-Chain Performance
40. We welcomed the 2013 interim assessment of the Supply-Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plan. Under the
Systematic Approach to Supply Chain Performance Improvements, we endorsed the inventories of supply chain policy
recommendations for all eight Supply Chain Framework Action Plan (SCFAP) Chokepoints, and instructed officials to
complete diagnostic reports for all eight SCFAP Chokepoints; draft a comprehensive capacity building plan; and begin
targeted, focused capacity building activities in economies in 2014.
41. We recognized the contribution that global data standards can make to enhancing supply chain efficiency, and
welcomed ABAC’s contribution in this area. As APEC economies further develop data standards frameworks, we encourage
officials to explore what more can be done to facilitate mutual compatibility amongst data standards frameworks, and the
compatibility of economies’ frameworks with the use of global data standards.
42. We underscored the importance of enhancing value chain resilience, and advancing work to establish more
interconnected and resilient APEC region. We emphasized the importance of evaluating various value chain risks and
addressing them through effective risk management and response. We instructed officials to continue to work on this
area. We will explore further work in 2014 on the benefit of the development of global value chains, including on the
interconnection of supply chains and value chains, so to promote the development of new industries for Asia-Pacific
growth.
43. We recognized the continuing threat of terrorism in the Asia-Pacific region and the importance of mitigating
this threat as we seek to achieve APEC’s vision and objectives. We recalled our Leaders’ commitment in 2011 to make
regional commerce and travel more secure, efficient, and resilient. We reiterated our commitment to APEC’s Consolidated
Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy, which takes a comprehensive integrated approach to ensuring the resilience
of regional commerce by enhancing the ability of member economies to protect their economic systems, recover rapidly
from disruptions, and maintain the flow of legitimate trade and travel. We encouraged economies to implement the
Strategy, including through capacity building initiatives that support secure regional supply chains, travel, finance
and infrastructure. We also noted the importance of continued and close cooperation with the private sector and relevant
multilateral organizations in implementing the Strategy.
Enhancing Transportation Infrastructure and Developing Quality Transport
44. We reaffirmed our commitment in 2012 to continue exploring opportunities for diversifying and optimizing
transportation and supply chain routes across all modes. We welcomed the outcomes of the APEC Transportation Ministerial
Meeting held in September 2013, in Tokyo, Japan that reaffirmed our commitment to improving transportation systems to
ease the flow of goods, people, services, and capital in the Asia Pacific through developing a transportation
“Connectivity Map” and “Quality Transport” vision and sharing experiences and best practices in enhancing transportation
infrastructure investment. We encouraged further collaboration by relevant fora in APEC in promoting well-designed,
sustainable and resilient transportation infrastructure, as well as convenient, efficient, safe, secure, and sustainable
transport in the region. We welcomed the view of our Transport Ministers on the APEC Business Aviation Core Principles
that outline best practices in the economic treatment of international business aviation operations, and that an open
and liberal international aviation regime is conducive to commercial and economic growth.
Advancing Regulatory Coherence and Cooperation
45. We welcomed the progress made by economies towards implementing the 2011 APEC Leaders’ commitment to strengthen
the implementation of Good Regulatory Practices (GRPs) by ensuring internal coordination of rule-making, assessing the
impact of regulations, and conducting public consultations on proposed regulations. We instructed officials to continue
carrying out related capacity-building and information sharing activities on voluntary basis so as to create a
high-quality regulatory environment, and advance regulatory coherence and cooperation, taking into account different
economies' circumstances. We instructed officials to report on progress made in undertaking this goal in 2014 and 2015.
We welcomed the results of the 2013 update to the “Baseline Study of Good Regulatory Practices in APEC Member Economies
and instruct officials to update the study by SOM3 2015.
46. We encouraged interested economies to explore the possibility of using additional tools to strengthen their
implementation of good regulatory practices, including single on-line locations for regulatory information, prospective
regulatory planning, including regulatory agendas, and retrospective reviews of existing regulations. We instructed
officials to develop capacity-building programs to assist APEC economies in improving their understanding on these
tools.
47. We welcomed the mid-term report on progress made by economies in their efforts to achieve structural reform
under the APEC New Strategy on Structural Reform (ANSSR) agenda. We highlighted the importance of identifying common
challenges and opportunities in implementing the ANSSR, and encouraged economies to share experiences as a reference for
other economies. We instructed officials to continue to collaborate to build more effective and targeted
capacity-building initiatives to assist economies to achieve their individual ANSSR targets by the end of 2015.
48. We reaffirmed our commitment to make doing business in the APEC region cheaper, faster and easier. We noted the
progress economies are making towards the five percent interim target under the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) agenda by
the end of 2013. We recognized that APEC-wide adoption of the Hague Apostille Convention would facilitate APEC’s EoDB
targets in the area of trading across borders and advance institutional connectivity among APEC authorities, and we
encouraged wider participation in the Hague Apostille Convention. We instructed officials to take into account the
findings in the APEC Economic Policy Report on Ease of Doing Business and the PSU Report on EoDB Interim Assessment
2009-2012, and to continue capacity-building activities to assist economies to achieve the aspirational goal of a 25
percent improvement in EoDB by 2015.
49. We encouraged economies to explore the possibility of implementing a one stop shop for online transaction and to
provide all the procedures and services to open a business and other procedures and services required to export and
e-commerce across boundaries to promote the easiness of doing business.
50. We recognized the work on regulatory approaches on reducing technical barriers to trade and fostering greater
regulatory cooperation in the region including through the revised APEC Regulatory Cooperation Advancement Mechanism
(ARCAM) on Trade-Related Standards and Technical Regulations and we welcomed discussions on electric vehicles as the
topic for the 2014 ARCAM Dialogue. We look forward to the progression of work on advertising standards in the region.
51. Recognizing the work to help implement the APEC Growth Strategy and the ANSSR, we welcomed the APEC Economic
Policy Report on Promoting Fiscal Transparency and Public Accountability. We highlighted the importance of building
mechanisms and institutions that help citizens to reduce the costs of obtaining information on fiscal policy and foster
transparency and promote public accountability.
Enhancing Customs Procedures
52. We noted the importance of enhancing cooperation in efforts to simplify customs procedures to be in line with
international standards, such as those developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO). We welcomed the progress in
the development of Single Window Systems in each APEC economy towards the promotion of interoperability amongst
economies’ Single Window Systems and the work regarding transit and suggested guidelines to enhance our institutional
connectivity. We welcomed the formation of a Virtual Customs Business Working Group in APEC to enhance collaboration
with the private sector on customs-related issues. We welcomed the continued voluntary Intellectual Property Rights
(IPR) enforcement operation, as well as the work for IPR border enforcement capacity building activities. We recognized
the continued work to build capacity for implementing Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programs throughout the APEC
region in line with the WCO/APEC SAFE Framework of Standards, which contribute to security and facilitation of customs
procedures. We supported the work to improve customs risk management for more efficient control on cargo movement, and
supported the initiative for future implementation of the Passenger Name Record (PNR) GOV for better passenger profiling
whilst providing travel facilitation. We encouraged economies to further implement activities related to
capacity-building and sharing of best practices to address at-the-border barriers.
Promoting Cross-Border Privacy Rules
53. We welcomed further work to enhance cooperation in promoting cross border privacy rules and encouraged member
Economies to participate in the Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) System on a voluntary basis, as agreed by APEC Leaders
in 2011, to reduce barriers to information flows, enhance consumer privacy, and promote interoperability across regional
data privacy regimes.
Promoting Cross Border Education Cooperation
54. Increasing cross-border education cooperation will strengthen regional ties, build people-to-people exchanges,
and promote economic development through knowledge and skills transfer. We reiterated the role of education as the
pre-eminent source of economic development in the 21st century in creating more and higher quality jobs and bolstering
productivity and growth. We welcomed the work in APEC to fulfill the 2012 APEC Leaders’ commitment on promoting
cross-border education through a Work Plan on Promoting Cross-Border Education Cooperation on a voluntary basis and
consistent with individual economies’ circumstances, and 2013 vision of 1 million intra-APEC university-level students
per year by 2020. We instructed APEC officials to implement related cross-cutting activities in the work plan to further
enhance the mobility of students, researchers, and education providers, as well as the existing network of bilateral
agreements (see Annex A). We welcomed Viet Nam’s intention to host the 14th Human Resources Development Ministerial
Meeting (HRDMM) in 2014.
Facilitating Emergency Response Travel
55. We recognized the importance and urgency for APEC Economies to share information, experiences and best practices
in the area of emergency response in times of natural disasters. Thus, we welcomed and supported the Emergency Response
Travel Facilitation (ERTF) initiative aimed at identifying facilitation arrangements that would ensure the ease of
mobility for emergency responders and their personal equipment, as well as for the business community to take part in
the post disaster business recovery (see Annex B). We instructed officials to develop a work plan on ERTF and to set
ERTF as a continuing working agenda item in relevant APEC fora. We also welcomed the outcomes of the 7th Senior Disaster
Management Official Forum (SDMOF) held in Bali, August 2013.
Enhancing People Mobility
56. We underlined the significance of facilitating the travel of business persons as a way to enhance economic
activities and promote people-to-people connectivity. Hence, we committed to further enhance the APEC Business Travel
Card scheme. In particular we welcomed the APEC-funded project for an End to End Review of the Scheme to identify
further opportunities for enhancement. We welcomed Russia’s full participation in the scheme.
57. We recognized the increasing role of the tourism sector in the Asia-Pacific region as a vehicle for quality job creation, economic growth, and development. We welcomed the outcomes of the High Level Policy
Dialogue on Travel Facilitation held in October 2013, in Bali, Indonesia. We will advance our work to further promote
travel facilitation in the region through leveraging new technology, as appropriate, to the visa requirements of each
economy; enhance capabilities to further develop systems of Advance Passenger Information and noted the potential of
Trusted Traveler Programs; and promote Tourist Friendly Airports as part of the Airport Partnership Program, including
by showcasing their locality, uniqueness, and authenticity. These efforts are aimed at expediting the movement of
travelers, enabling more efficient, more secure, and less stressful travel, and promoting a free flow of tourists within
the APEC region.
Promoting Joint Endeavors
58. We welcomed the intellectual inputs provided by our scholars at the APEC Study Centre Consortium Conference
2013. We instructed officials to enhance their engagement with academics to broaden our perspectives and to give more
depth to our discussion in APEC. We welcomed the active participation of our youth and young entrepreneurs at the APEC
2013 Youth Summit, and recommendations that resulted from the event. Such joint endeavors are essential in promoting
people-to-people connectivity and enhancing the sense of community in APEC. We encouraged the continuation of youth
engagement in APEC through similar events in the coming years.
Sustainable Growth with Equity
59. Consistent with the 2010 APEC Leaders’ Growth Strategy, we have enhanced our efforts on achieving sustainable
growth with equity to ensure a better quality of growth, through strengthening cooperation in the areas of Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), women’s economic empowerment, health, ocean, food security, renewable energy, financial
inclusion, as well as science, technology and innovation.
Empowering Women and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
60. We recognized the important role of women in the economy to generate employment, drive production and
innovation, and contribute to economic development and poverty alleviation. We encouraged work to facilitate women’s
participation in the economy, by incorporating gender consideration in structural reform practices, developing ICT tools
and services which enable women to better participate in the economy, expanding access to social protection programs,
providing equal access to quality education and employment opportunities, and developing supporting infrastructure that
facilitates women’s participation in the labour market at all levels including leadership positions. We welcomed the
collaborative work undertaken to highlight the importance of women’s leadership in the transportation sector, and look
to the work as a model for how women’s economic empowerment can be integrated into the objectives of broader APEC fora.
61. We appreciated the convening of the first conference and the public-private partnership network meeting on
Innovation for Women and Economic Development. We welcomed the commencement of a multi-year project to facilitate
sustainable new business models and policy environment for women, and to address impediments in bridging ICT access
gender gap.
62. In supporting women in SMEs in their tremendous endeavor, we welcomed the first collaborative efforts by the
Women and SME Ministers to encourage joint work in the areas of promotion of entrepreneurial culture and increasing
access to finance and markets for women owned and operated SMEs and promotion of SME’s internationalization through
financial education, financial literacy, and greater consumer protection and awareness. We recommended that greater
collaborative work to expand financial inclusion to women be undertaken by the private sector and officials from
finance, education, central banks, and telecommunication ministries. We recognized the policy and program
recommendations to advance women's access to markets by leveraging government procurement opportunities and support
greater work by both the public and private sector to build women entrepreneurs skills and capacity to obtain these
opportunities.
63. We welcomed collaboration between the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy and the SME Working Group to
take forward this agenda and initiate projects and concrete actions that will benefit women’s SMEs.
64. Recognizing the importance of enhancing APEC SMEs’ resilience to natural disasters, we encouraged economies to
collaborate with the private sector to strengthen SME business continuity planning (BCP), and advance joint efforts to
build more resilient communities and businesses.
65. We acknowledged the importance of an enabling environment to accelerate startups and boost development of SMEs.
We instructed officials to advance work that foster an entrepreneurial culture and improves the competitiveness of our
SMEs to expand to the international market. We underlined the importance of improvement of each economy’s business
environment to reach out to the international market with Win-Win relationships. We recognized the need for
sex-disaggregated data to enable the public and private sector to effectively measure the impact of market interventions
to advance women’s entrepreneurship. We encouraged work to promote “One Village One Product” that will facilitate
women’s entrepreneurship and foster creativity and productivity among SMEs.
Promoting Financial Inclusion
66. We recognized the importance of financial inclusion to achieving equality and enhancing growth potential in the
region. We commit to promote awareness and enhance access, eligibility and capacity of poor households and
small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to interact with financial institutions, together with efforts to develop
financial literacy and strengthen consumer protection. We welcomed the guiding principles to implement optimal and
innovative approaches to promote financial eligibility of the poor and SMEs through innovative distribution channels
such as branchless banking.
Promoting Labour and Social Protection
67. We reaffirmed our Leaders commitment in 2010 to promote inclusive growth in APEC region by promoting job
creation, human resource development and active labour market policies. We also recognized the importance of close
consultation with all sectors of our societies, including business, labour, women, and youth. To this end, we will
continue to achieve full and productive employment, and promoting social protection and decent work for all.
Promoting Sustainable Healthcare
68. We recognized that health plays an important role as the driver of economic development. We also recognized the
role of innovation and innovative approaches, multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration, and public private
partnerships in APEC in ensuring the physical and mental health of our citizens. We reaffirmed our commitment to
improving the capacity of economies to respond to infectious diseases, to control non-communicable diseases, and to
strengthen health systems. We supported the efforts to promote understanding on the safe and effective use of
Traditional and Complementary Alternative Medicines (TCAM) by integrating traditional medicine into healthcare systems
in accordance with economies’ priorities and legislation, and involving communities and strengthening public-private
partnerships, taking into account economies’ circumstances. We instructed officials to progress the work on implementing
the strategies for both health promotion and preventive health care. We also committed to work towards zero new HIV
infections, zero discrimination and zero HIV-related deaths, especially through HIV prevention programs in the APEC
region. We recognized the importance, including toward the economy, of promoting sustainable healthcare systems that
deliver Universal Health Coverage in the APEC region (see Annex E).
Mainstreaming Ocean-Related Issues
69. We underlined the linkage of oceans to the economy, and highlighted in particular that sustainably managed
oceans resources contribute to long-term economic benefits. We welcomed the APEC initiative on mainstreaming
ocean-related issues and the work plan to promote cross-cutting and cross-fora collaboration to achieve sustainable and
inclusive growth. We instructed officials to develop and implement the work plan that will complement our efforts to
promote ocean-related issues in APEC. We noted that the work plan will include cooperation on, among others, exchanging
best practices in combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing; sustainable fisheries management and
trade, including trade in sustainably harvested fisheries products and aquaculture; new and renewable energy; tourism;
science and technology; transportation and marine connectivity. We reaffirmed our commitments on oceans issues at
Rio+20, and welcomed the work by the international community to address overfishing and overcapacity.
Strengthening Food Security and Safety
70. We reiterated our commitment to pursue and strengthen our cooperation in achieving sustainable food security
through the implementation of the Niigata Declaration 2010 and Kazan Declaration 2012, including through the Policy
Partnership on Food Security (PPFS). We encouraged sharing of best practices on this area through Asia-Pacific
Information Platform on Food Security (APIP). We reaffirmed the importance of not applying WTO-inconsistent trade
measures in pursuing food security.
71. We welcomed the Food Security Road Map towards 2020 as a strategic approach in APEC to achieve the goal of
improving food security. We instructed officials to develop and start to implement an operational Business Plan in the
coming years. We noted that the business plan would address the sustainable development of the food sector; the
facilitation of investment and infrastructure development; and enhancing trade and markets. The operational Business
Plan should reflect close collaboration among relevant APEC fora and private sector, and not duplicate existing APEC
initiatives.
72. We recognized the crucial role of farmers and fishers, especially small holders and women, in increasing food
production and attaining food security in the region. Noting their vulnerability to economic turbulence and natural
shocks, we underlined the need to enhance their capacity to reduce food losses and further strengthen their role in our
investment and environmental conservation policies. We valued the creation and enhancement of partnerships that involve
key stakeholders in food security, including by integrating smallholder farmers and fishers with the private sector in
food supply-chains. The partnerships should also take into account the importance of gender equality and the significant
role of women in ensuring food security from household, to community, economy-wide, and regional levels. We welcomed the
multi-year project on Strengthening Public-Private Partnership to Reduce Food Losses in the Supply Chain.
73. We recognized the continued efforts of the Food Safety Cooperation Forum (FSCF) and its Partnership Training
Institute Network (PTIN) in developing food safety capacity in the region, strengthening food supply-chains in the
region and complementing the efforts in the alignment of domestic regulations with international standards.
74. We recognized that education of SMEs on Food Safety Standards plays an important role to improve the
competitiveness of SMEs, facilitate trade and increase food safety which is eventually promoting public health. In this
regard, we noted the importance of having comprehensive technical approaches to assist and build the capacity of SMEs to
apply and enhance compliance of food safety standards.
Promoting the Application of Innovative Biotechnologies
75. Acknowledging that agricultural biotechnology advances APEC economies’ agricultural sustainability and goals for
food security, we agreed to promote the sharing of information and experience on the creation and fostering of
science-based regulations, and to identify applications of agricultural biotechnology that address the environmental,
food, and health challenges in member economies.
76. We reaffirmed our commitment to promote science-based risk assessments and transparent decision making
consistent with domestic laws as part of the continuing effort to educate the public about the importance of global food
security of providing farmers with production choices, including agricultural biotechnology.
77. We demonstrated support for small farmers by directing the HLPDAB to develop a platform to share information on
policy and innovative technologies, appropriate for small farmers’ use. We encouraged officials to conduct risk
communication outreach to improve public understanding on agricultural biotechnology.
Enhancing Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation
78. We welcomed the commencement of work by the Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI)
under the Chairmanship of Indonesia. We instructed officials to enhance the development of science, technology and
innovation cooperation and to explore effective innovation policies, mindful of its focus on building science capacity,
promoting an enabling environment for innovation, and enhancing regional science and technology connectivity.
79. We appreciated the convening of the first meeting of APEC Chief Science Advisors and Equivalents (CSA)
Co-Chaired by Indonesia and New Zealand, which has been able to deliver a unique contribution to APEC Leaders’ Vision of
Innovation and Cooperation Networking in the Asia Pacific region. We recommended the CSA meeting and its associated
network to continue as informal mechanisms to support policy discussions on common regional APEC issues where science
and science based innovation challenges need to be addressed.
Promoting Sustainable Forest Management
80. We reaffirmed our strong commitment to increase forest cover in the APEC region by 20 million hectares by 2020
as outlined by APEC Leaders in 2007. We welcomed the outcomes of the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry held
in August 2013, in Cusco, Peru, on sustainable forest management promoting and enhancing governance through
institutional and legal frameworks that involves management, conservation and rehabilitation measures, increased forest
cover, research and innovation, indigenous community participation, enhancement of environmental education, strengthened
efforts to combat illegal logging and associated trade, promotion of private investment, and capacity building, so as to
promote sustainable forest management and closer forestry cooperation and exchange in the region.
Combating Wildlife Trafficking
81. We recognized that wildlife trafficking threatens our sustainable economic development. We committed to treat
wildlife trafficking crimes seriously; reduce the supply of and demand for illegally traded wildlife; increase public
awareness and education related to wildlife trafficking and its impacts; and enhance international cooperation through
Wildlife Enforcement Networks (WENs) and other existing mechanisms.
Promoting Clean and Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Mining and Metallurgy
82. We are committed to strike a balance between growth rate, quality and efficiency, and to establish a
comprehensive and coordinated sustainable development.
83. We welcomed the convening of the Conference on Clean, Renewable and Sustainable Use of Energy that took place in
Nusa Dua, Bali in September 2013 to discuss efforts to boost investments in clean and renewable energy, to build
capacity and technical cooperation in projects that involve advanced technologies and skilled human resources, and to
share the importance of cooperation on low carbon growth.
84. We instructed officials to implement set of specific actions that will strengthen our collective efforts on
energy development, specifically on clean and renewable energy, to reach the energy security and sustainability in the
region (see Annex C).
85. We reaffirmed our commitment to rationalize and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage
wasteful consumption, while recognizing the importance of providing those in need with essential energy services. We
instructed officials to continue to build regional capacity. We welcome the development of a methodology for a Voluntary
Peer Review Mechanism of these inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and encourage broad voluntary participation in these
reviews as a valuable means of enhanced transparency and accountability. We welcome the initiation of economy-owned peer
reviews and use of the voluntary reporting mechanism.
86. We noted the value of the Energy Smart Community Initiative (ESCI) to promote innovation for green growth
through knowledge and best practice sharing. We encouraged economies to continue to make efforts to support ESCI related
activities.
87. We took note of the challenges in establishing new mining and metallurgical projects and ensuring projects are
developed in a sustainable manner that brings greater benefits to society. We reiterated the importance in bringing
together common concerns of the APEC economies on sustainable mining and metallurgy, including technical and
non-technical risks factors. We identified that to increase the mineral added value of the industrial activities of our
people means to increase the regional added value through a wholesome effort of sectoral and regional improvement. As
the largest region of ore producers and consumers, we recognized the importance of promoting interregional trade and
communication, cooperation and synergy with other regional groupings, such as the EU, by encouraging sharing of
knowledge and experiences in mining and metallurgical business sector.
88. We acknowledged the importance of enhancing and balancing the share of cleaner fossil fuels, such as natural gas
and the use of clean coal technology, in the energy mix that would help to reach energy sustainability in the
Asia-Pacific region.
89. We underlined the value of cross border mechanism, such as the Joint Crediting Mechanism to disseminate low
carbon technologies to achieve sustainable growth.
Improving Energy Efficiency
90. We also reiterated the importance of improving energy efficiency, particularly in industry, consumer including
home appliances, equipment, building and houses, and transport sectors, in order to ensure sustainable energy use in the
region. We reaffirmed our commitment in 2011 to aspire to reduce APEC’s aggregate energy intensity by 45 percent by
2035, using 2005 as a base year. We encouraged officials, in close cooperation with private sector, to implement
policies that improve energy efficiency, including capacity building initiatives, joint studies and harmonization of
energy efficiency standards.
Fighting Corruption and Ensuring Transparency
91. We reaffirmed the importance and the need to enhance prevention and enforcement in addressing corruption,
bribery and other financial crimes and illicit trade that imperil our security and prosperity agenda, including the
safeguarding of public assets, natural resources, and human capital. We also reaffirmed our commitment to create ethical
business environments that support sustainable economic growth, in particular by strengthening ethical standards, and we
encouraged all stakeholders to implement APEC’s high standard principles for codes of business ethics. We applauded the
Anti-Corruption and Transparency Working Group (ACTWG)’s continued leadership in collaborating with other APEC fora. We
further committed to establish among member economies an “APEC Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law
Enforcement Authorities (ACT-NET)”, under the auspices of ACTWG to promote networking and foster relationship-building
among anti-corruption and law enforcement officials who can assist one another in detecting, investigating and
prosecuting corruption and domestic and foreign bribery, money laundering, and illicit trade cases; to provide a forum
that can facilitate bilateral and multilateral discussions of such cases, as appropriate; and to facilitate the sharing
of expertise and experiences in detecting, investigating and prosecuting such cases (see Annex D).
Strengthening APEC
92. We reiterated our commitments to Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH) and Manila Framework as APEC’s
main pillar in attaining sustainable growth and equitable development in the Asia-Pacific region and in reducing
economic disparities among APEC economies. We also reaffirmed our commitment to continue leveraging ECOTECH activities
to help developing economies achieve the Bogor Goals by 2020. We welcomed efforts to maintain focus on ECOTECH and
instructed officials to improve the effectiveness of SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE)’s work, capacity-building
and communication. We commended the progress made this year in advancing the ECOTECH agenda and endorsed the 2013 Senior
Official's Report on Economic and Technical Cooperation.
93. We noted an SCE survey was conducted this year and welcome the 12 recommendations formulated as an outcome of
the survey. We directed Senior Officials to oversee the implementation of those recommendations and report to the AMM
next year and in the years to come.
94. We acknowledged ongoing endeavors to strengthen the coordination between APEC fora and to streamline operating
processes of SCE. We instructed Senior Officials to continue improving this coordination and urge APEC fora to enhance
communication so as to avoid duplication of work and maximize synergy. We encouraged APEC secretariat to work out the
recommendations for streamlining CTI sub-fora. We noted recent work in this area on women’s issues, SMEs, oceans,
connectivity, food security, education and travel facilitation.
95. We recognized that synergies exist between APEC and other fora, including ASEAN, and welcomed collaborative
capacity building activities this year which advanced economic integration goals of both fora. We instructed officials
to continue to organize joint activities in areas of mutual interest, where common objectives are shared.
96. We supported the decision of our officials to transform the Counter Terrorism Task Force into a Working Group.
We underlined the importance of our work in counter terrorism in securing our supply chains, finance, travel, and
infrastructure in the APEC region.
97. We committed to strengthen our deliberation on important issues by enhancing cross fora collaboration and
synergy. We noted that such work has been conducted on issues of women’s economic empowerment, SMEs, oceans,
connectivity, food security, education, as well as travel facilitation and encouraged future joint work on other
important issues.
98. We recognized that advancing APEC economic and technical cooperation requires greater levels of funding to the
APEC Support Fund. We welcomed generous voluntary contributions from member economies, to be utilized for our goal of
bridging development gaps among economies. We also urged economies to continue making voluntary contributions to help
support the implementation of targeted capacity building activities.
99. We emphasized the importance of public-private interactions in APEC to promote growth in the region. We welcomed
active participation and valuable inputs that ABAC provided this year on various cross-cutting agenda in APEC.
100. We recognized the importance of budget and management arrangement in APEC as a means to solidify APEC as an
institution. In this regard, we welcomed the work of APEC in financial realignment and institutional management issues.
We also welcomed the work on project management that would improve capacity-building activities in APEC, including the
work by Budget and Management Committee (BMC) to better evaluate the impacts of APEC projects.
101. We welcomed the ongoing work on the institutional arrangements and endorsement of the APEC Secretariat’s
2014-2016 strategic plan to strengthen its role and capacity in supporting APEC to achieve its goals. We supported the
work of strengthening the operational and institutional capabilities of the APEC Secretariat. We instructed officials to
further review the administrative and budgetary issues in APEC so as to further improve the effectiveness of our work in
APEC.
102. We acknowledged the continued research and analytical contributions provided by the PSU in progressing APEC’s
goals. We supported undertakings to strengthen the PSU’s institutional capacity to fulfill its mandate through its
five-year strategic plan.
103. We endorsed the 2013 Senior Officials’ Report on APEC’s work program, including the recommendations contained
therein, noted the 2013 Annual Report of the APEC Secretariat Executive Director, and approved the 2014 APEC budget and
member contributions. We welcomed preparations for APEC 2014 in China.
Annexes
Annex F. APEC Best Practices to Create Jobs and Increase Competitiveness.