Projects to develop human capital and strengthen the operations of small and medium enterprises are some of the highlights of 2004 APEC outcomes cited in the annual report by the APEC SOM Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (ESC).To be presented to Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers from APEC Member Economies in this year's meeting in Santiago on November 17-18, the report provides a summary of the 121 ESC projects undertaken over the past year.
The report also highlights the development of a New Quality Assessment Framework for APEC project proposals that will ensure ECOTECH projects continue to make a strong contribution towards APEC's free trade and investment goals.
ESC Chair, Ambassador Juan Carlos Capu said that the ESC's work this year was based on a shortlist of APEC-wide Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH) priorities approved by Ministers in 2003.
Ministers set the economic and technical cooperation direction for our work that aims to help people to benefit from changes in the global economy, said Ambassador Capu.
Around 47% of the ESC projects undertaken over the past year have focused on building human capital and addressing the social consequences of globalization.
Projects assisting small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs to gain access to the global economy have covered areas such as e-business and microfinance training programs.
ECOTECH activities within APEC, which include seminars, symposia and training, are goal-oriented, with explicit objectives, milestones and performance criteria.
Ambassador Capu said over the past year the ESC has developed a two-pronged approach to strengthen implementation of ECOTECH activities.
At the working group level we are encouraging independent assessment of working groups to ensure that work is responsive to current priorities and serves APEC's free trade and investment goals, said Ambassador Capu.
At a project level we have developed a Quality Assessment Framework to help project proponents submit good quality projects for consideration by our Budget and Management Committee. This will ensure that the limited money that economies commit to APEC is spent wisely so that maximum benefit goes to those who need it most.
We are supplementing this work with other means to make our projects more transparent such as revamping the APEC project database. This will be fully operational early next year.
Ambassador Capu also said that the ESC will be working closely with Korea, next year's APEC host, to organize a second Roundtable Dialogue on ECOTECH with International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the private sector in the margins of SOM III. The topic will revolve around the issue of SMEs development and the use of English for business. (Agencies)
