Health Systems Confront Demographic Reality: Cross-Border Solutions Matter

These pages report key points from a discussion in an APEC workshop (jointly organized by the Economic Committee (EC) and the Group on Services (GOS)) on 7 August 2025. The workshop was held in Incheon in the series associated with third Senior Officials Meeting of that year.

Chair of the EC, James Ding, welcomed the workshop as offering a golden opportunity to deepen understanding, foster closer cooperation between the EC and GOS, and reinforce APEC efforts in shaping the future of services trade and regional cooperation building. He noted the growth opportunities in services trade and the role of structural reform in the digital era. The workshop would focus on the evolving nature of services trade, particularly in light of rapid advancement in artificial intelligence (AI). The discussions were aligned with the pillars of the Enhanced APEC Agenda for Structural Reform.

GOS Convenor, Jillian de Luna, noted in her opening remarks, that this was a pioneering session, because in 10 years of public/private policy dialogues in pursuit of increased regional competitiveness in services, this was the first session for GOS which focused specifically on Health Services. With the uptake of digital technologies, including AI, being relatively high in the medical sector, the regional economic and trade community needs to understand better the resulting potential shifts in trade in health services, the constraints to trade and the implications for policy and regulatory settings.