The APEC Symposium and Informal Senior Meeting took place on 8-9 December at the East West Center in Honolulu. The meeting kicks off an important year for APEC as the region continues to deal with uncertainty over future growth and high levels of unemployment. PECC international co-chair, Dr Charles E. Morrison delivered welcoming remarks in his capacity as President of the East West Center.

The APEC Symposium was an opportunity for senior officials to hear views from outside experts on some of the key issues that APEC could be addressing in the coming years. The topics addressed during the symposium were: Growth for the 21st Century: Green growth; Developing a Next Generation Trade and Investment Agenda for APEC; and Promoting Regulatory Cooperation and Convergence in the Asia-Pacific. Former USTR, Ambassador Susan Schwab delivered the keynote address highlighting the role the APEC group of economies can play in bringing a conclusion to the WTO Doha Round of negotiations. 

The focus on these issues is likely to have strong support from the PECC community which recently highlighted poor intellectual rights protection; multiple standards for products and services; and regulatory impediments as the top 3 challenges to doing business in the region in a survey undertaken last September. 49 percent of respondents ranked regulatory impediments as the most important to next most important challenge to doing business in the region. 

This issue is likely to have the most resonance in the business community where 53 percent of respondents ranked regulatory issues as the highest to next highest challenge to doing business in the region, compared to 43 percent of respondents from the government sector.  For more details see:  default  State of the Region Report 2010 (857.4 kB)  

PECC is one of the official observers of the APEC process.