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Monday, September 21, 2015

Strengthening the APEC-G20-OECD Relationship

Chen-Sheng Ho



Background

        In 2015, Turkey serves as the Chair of the G20. Next year, Mainland China will become the Chair of the G20. Therefore, it is important to know more about the priorities of the G20. At the same time, APEC has had a productive year and has also worked on several priorities. As a matter of fact, APEC is seeking to work closely with the G20 and has cooperated with the OECD. From the perspective of cooperation, the focus on issues that are of importance to APEC, G20 and OECD is necessary. Thus Chinese Taipei's contributions in APEC can serve as the most important way to link Chinese Taipei with the international community, as APEC continues to strengthen its cooperation with the G20 and OECD.


2015 G20 Priorities

        As the Chair of G20 this year, Turkey has chosen the theme of: "Collective Action for Inclusive and Robust Growth." In addition, Turkey is focusing on the following three pillars: 1) Strengthening the Global Recovery and Lifting the Potential; 2) Enhancing Resilience; and 3) Buttressing Sustainability (G20 2015).

        In Session 2, the main topic of discussion was "Connectivity through Services." The main point was that efficiency in services had increasingly been associated with higher labor productivity and competitiveness in manufacturing. Moreover, services had been recognized as the facilitator of global value chains and logistics chain in particular. The main challenge was that the services sector continued to be highly restrictive in many parts of the world as well as the APEC region. Furthermore, the difficulty of changing domestic regulations had led to the reluctance of economies to liberalize their services sector. It is suggested that economies should promote knowledge sharing and the development of a knowledge community for promoting regulatory reforms (PIDS 2015).


2015 APEC Priorities

        The host of APEC in 2015 is the Philippines. The main theme is: "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World." The priorities are: 1) Enhancing the Regional Economic Integration Agenda; 2) Fostering SMEs' Participation in Regional and Global Markets; 3) Investing in Human Capital Development; and 4) Building Sustainable and Resilient Communities (APEC 2014).


Seeking Closer APEC-G20-OECD Cooperation

        From examining the 2015 priorities of the G20 and APEC, it can be seen that the two organizations are seeking to advance inclusiveness. This means that an economy should have inclusive growth in which all segments of society enjoy the economic benefits. Moreover, other related issues that are important to the G20 and APEC are SMEs, agriculture, trade, anti-corruption, energy and other economic issues.

        Most importantly, several members of the G20 are also members of APEC, such as Australia, Canada, Mainland China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, and the United States. Therefore, they are in a good position to ensure that the G20 and APEC are working on the same issues. It is suggested that APEC members should actively seek closer cooperation with the G20. The closer cooperation is not only beneficial for the Asia- Pacific region but also for the whole world. The reason is that the G20 and APEC can learn from each other. APEC members that are also members of the G20 should assist with promoting the G20-APEC cooperation in the G20. As a matter of fact, a representative of the G20 has attended the APEC SOM3 meeting. Furthermore, the G20 Leaders Summit will be held on November 15-16, 2015. The APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will be held on November 18-19, 2015. There is great certainty that the G20 Leaders and the APEC Leaders will discuss similar economic issues and will focus on inclusive growth.

        Moreover, APEC's enhancement of cooperation with G20 can also be enlarged to include the participation of OECD. The advancement of the triangular relationship would strengthen the work on various economic issues. Presently, the OECD has contributed to several G20 issues: 1) Agriculture; 2) Anti-corruption; 3) Development; 4) Employment and social policy; 5) Energy, environment and green growth; 6) Financing for investment; 7) Financial sector reform; 8) Framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth; 9) Taxation; 10) Trade and investment (OECD 2015).

        APEC has also worked closely with the OECD. For example, APEC and the OECD have developed the APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform (APEC 2015). Another example is the cooperation between APEC's Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts' Working Group (ACT) and the OECD which has resulted in the holding of the ACT-OECD High-Level Anti-Corruption Workshop on Combating Business Bribery (APEC 2015a).

        Thus APEC has cooperated with the OECD and APEC is beginning to seek cooperation with the G20. The optimal outcome is for the strengthening of the triangular relationship among APEC, OECD and G20 as soon as possible. A suggestion is that the APEC Sectoral Ministerial Meetings could include the participation of G20 and OECD. Furthermore, it is also suggested that APEC could join existing OECD-G20 work. APEC projects could encompass the contribution by OECD and G20 in terms of involvement by experts and the holding of workshops.

        From Chinese Taipei's standpoint, the participation in APEC has enabled Chinese Taipei to be linked with the international community. Particularly, Chinese Taipei's contributions in APEC through the implementation of projects, such as projects relating to agriculture and SMEs are greatly appreciated by APEC members. APEC can request the OECD and G20's participation in the APEC projects by providing speakers and sharing information. For example, Chinese Taipei is implementing the APEC Food Losses Multi-Year Project that seeks to address food loss and waste. In the statement of the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting that was held on May 7-8, 2015 in Istanbul, the G20 Ministers stated that minimizing food loss and waste is important (G20. 2015a). As for the OECD, agricultural issues are advanced through the Trade and Agriculture Directorate.

        Therefore, once the G20, OECD and APEC have strengthened their cooperation with each other, the three organizations can focus on developing and implementing joint projects. Chinese Taipei will certainly have an important role to play, as Chinese Taipei has been implementing capacity building projects that assist APEC developing economies. These experiences are also beneficial to the G20 developing economies.




References:



1.  APEC. 2014. APEC 2015 Priorities. <http://mddb.apec.org/Documents/2014/SOM/ISOM/14_isom_008_r.pdf>
2.  APEC. 2015. "APEC-OECD Integrated Checklist on Regulatory Reform." <http://www.apec.org/Groups/Economic-Committee/Toolkit-for-Structural-Reform/ APEC-OECD-Integrated-Checklist.aspx>
3.  APEC. 2015a. "Summary Record - 20th Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts' Working Group Meeting." <http://mddb.apec.org/Documents/2015/ACT/ACT2/15_act2_002.pdf>
4.  G20. 2015. "Turkish G20 Presidency Priorities for 2015. <https://g20.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/2015-TURKEY-G-20-PRESIDENCYFINAL. pdf>
5.  G20. 2015a. "G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting Final Communique." <https://g20.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/G20-Agriculture-Ministers-Final- Communique.pdf>
6.  OECD. 2015. "The Issues." <http://www.oecd.org/G20/>

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