The services sector generates significant employment, economic growth, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. To encourage further growth and development in this sector, APEC's Group on Services (GOS) works on trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation (TILF) issues related to trade in services, and coordinates APEC's work in this area. GOS works in close collaboration with four service-related APEC Working Groups: Telecommunications and Information; Transportation; Tourism; and Energy.
The Group on Services (GOS) was established by the Committee on Trade and Investment in 1997 to address the TILF tasks in the area of services as mandated in the Osaka Action Agenda and instructed by APEC Leaders, Ministers, Senior Officials and the CTI.
- Achievements
- Current Activities
- Contacts
- News
- Events
The GOS has made significant progress in activities that facilitate the development of open and efficient services markets in the APEC region.
The SAP Matrix of Actions under the APEC Services Action Plan (SAP) was developed. This aims to provide common direction and coherence to APEC's work on services trade. It also serves to establish a forward work programme that fosters the development of open and efficient services markets in the Asia-Pacific. The Matrix of Actions helps indentify priorities and capacity building needs in relation to individual and collective efforts. This will in turn boost services trade and development.
The APEC Strategy on Movement of Business People was developed and endorsed by the GOS and Business Mobility Group (BMG). It includes principles relating to, and actions that could contribute to, the facilitation of entry and temporary stay, and the movement of business people.
The APEC Legal Services Initiative website was developed in 2010. The website includes a compilation and comparison of information on regulatory regimes for foreign lawyers in APEC member economies and contacts for regulating and peak bodies in APEC member economies.
The Workshop for Capacity Building on the Role of Cross-Border Services Trade in New Growth Strategies was held in Sendai, Japan, in September 2010. The seminar aimed to increase knowledge and understanding of how the services sector and cross-border services can contribute to APEC's inclusive and sustainable growth agenda.
The APEC Ecotourism Conference – a joint GOS-Tourism Working Group (TWG) project – was held in Sendai, Japan in September 2010. Participants shared their best practices in sustainable ecotourism and agreed that it would serve as an effective contribution to the growth attributes: in particular, inclusive growth, sustainable growth and innovative growth that was laid out in the APEC Growth Strategy. They also recognized that ecotourism constitutes a powerful tool for environmental sustainability, the prosperity of local communities and an innovative tourism industry.
A workshop under the "Information Exchange of Environmental Services" project was held in Beijing, China in November 2010. It facilitated the exchange of information on both the liberalization and technological aspects of environmental services within APEC economies.
GOS projects currently underway in 2011 include:
The development of the “APEC Services Trade Access Requirements (STAR) Database” which will be a business friendly tool to facilitate service providers’ market access, business mobility and establishment of commercial presence throughout the APEC region. The STAR Database will contain services, market access, and behind-the-border requirements for market entry in the financial, mining and energy, transport and logistics, telecommunications and professional services sectors.
The "Workshop on Addressing SME Business Constraints through Services" was held in Washington, D.C. in March 2011. The workshop examined the role that backbone services - including ICT, logistics and financial services - play in enabling SMEs to better achieve their business and export potential.
The “Sharing Key Success Factors and Experiences in Trade in Services for SMEs” workshop was held in San Francisco in September 2011. The workshop looked at the factors leading to successful export performance by services SMEs, including successful policies to promote or facilitate SMEs’ services exports.
A Trade Policy Dialogue (TPD) on Environmental Services was held in Big Sky, Montana, in May 2011. The TPD aimed to identify: the scope of environmental services; the state of the environmental services market in APEC; the state of trade in environmental services, and; the relationship between trade in environmental services and trade in environmental goods and technologies.
The "APEC Legal Services Project" included the creation of a databank of attorneys who work on trade and investment in the APEC region. In addition, the project has collated links to business attorneys working in the APEC region for public use.
The "APEC Accounting Services Initiative" workshop was held in San Francisco in September 2011. It aimed to identify impediments to the provision of accounting and auditing services across APEC economies. In addition, an electronic repository of information on the regulation of accounting and auditing services by foreign professionals in the APEC region has been developed; and Non-Binding Guidelines for the Regulation of Foreign Accountancy Professionals are currently being developed.
Sondang ANGGRAINI (Ms)
Convenor
Director of Trade in Services Negotiation
Directorate General for International Trade Cooperation, Ministry of Trade
Indonesia
Email:
Cc:
sondang.anggraini@kemendag.go.id
Andrew O’SULLIVAN (Mr)
Program Director
APEC Secretariat
Email: