2025 Update to Evaluating Progress on the Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA): Trade and Investment Perspective

This 2025 update to the evaluation of progress on the Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA) offers an updated assessment on the progress done by APEC to implement the APA and achieve the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040. It explores progress on trade and investment under the purview of the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI). This evaluation shows that APEC has made good progress in certain areas but also could work in other areas to get closer to meet its objectives.

In a context where rising trade policy uncertainty is jeopardizing efforts in recent years to improve the trade environment, APEC economies must work together to remove unnecessary barriers to trade. Boosting trade in services flows could be done by pursuing initiatives creating an enabling policy environment for services, with particular focus on certain sub-sectors. For instance, APEC’s digital economy is growing but more must be done to strengthen growth.

In addition, it is beneficial to attract more investments by improving the foreign direct investment policy environment, advancing economic integration in the region by developing high-standard and comprehensive regional undertakings, and strengthening regional connectivity through capacity-building support and cooperation. Improving the availability of disaggregated data, particularly those that could monitor progress in transitioning informal economic actors towards formalization, could also be considered.

Moreover, improvements can be pursued in intensifying environmental efforts to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity by facilitating trade in environmental goods. Having a more efficient energy transition is also crucial to reduce pollution arising from economic development.