Philippines on Track to Reach APEC Goals

An independent report has found that the Philippines has made substantial progress towards achieving APEC's free trade and investment goals and described the Philippines as one of the leading developing economy members of APEC.

The "Philippines IAP Review" is a report on the implementation of the Philippines' Individual Action Plan (IAP) to achieve APEC's free trade and investment goals.

Compiled by Professor Junsok Yang of the Catholic University of Korea, the report covers thirteen specific issue areas relating to the realization of APEC's Bogor Goals.

The APEC Bogor Goals were established in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994 and set the target of free and open trade and investment in the APEC region by 2010 for industrialized economies and 2020 for developing economies.

Professor Yang said in the report that the Philippines has made substantial progress toward the Bogor Goals particularly in the area of trade in goods.

"For trade in goods, if the current trends and efforts continue at similar levels, the Philippines is likely to achieve the Bogor Goals by 2020," Professor Yang said in the report.

"The tariff rates for the Philippines are very low given its developing status, and it has made good progress in the areas of non-tariff barriers, customs procedure, intellectual property rights, and standards and conformance.

"Good first steps have been made in the areas of customs procedures, standards and conformance, and competition policy.

"The Philippines has established the necessary legal and institutional framework to protect intellectual property rights.

The report praised the Philippines' active participation in the APEC process and the efforts made to develop the economy.

"The Philippines is one of the leading developing economy members of APEC. Since the 1990s, the Philippines has made great efforts in liberalizing its economy, and introducing competition into the economy."

Professor Yang thanked the Government of the Philippines, particularly the Bureau of International Trade Relations for facilitating the in-economy visit of the research team, that he said made substantial efforts to ensure the visit was productive.

Excerpts from each of the thirteen areas of assessment are now available by clicking here. The full report will be available on the e-IAP website once it has been presented to APEC Senior Officials in Seoul on March 4.

Seven APEC Member Economies are having their IAPs' reviewed at the current round of APEC meetings in Korea. This process involves a presentation by the Independent Expert to a meeting of Member Economies followed by an opportunity for these economies to question the economy under review on the details of their IAP. The review of the Philippines' IAP took place this morning in Seoul.