At the Third CTI meeting, WTO Deputy Director-General, Anabel González, provided an update on the outcomes of the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference while Ambassador Pimchanok Nan Pitfield, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the WTO & WIPO, shared views on how APEC could support and make progress on the outcomes.
The Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) was established in November 1993 by the Declaration of an APEC Trade and Investment Framework. APEC leaders and ministers direct its work and APEC senior officials provide guidance. The scope of the CTI’s work was expanded and further clarified by the Osaka Action Agenda (OAA) in 1995 and the Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA) in 2021.
The CTI is a forum for APEC’s 21 member economies to deliberate trade and policy issues. It works to reduce impediments to business activity in the areas outlined by the OAA and promote trade and investment as stated in the APA, with the aim of helping APEC economies achieve free and open trade and investment while pursuing the Putrajaya Vision 2040. The objectives of CTI are to:
- Create a coherent APEC perspective and voice on global trade and investment issues and increase cooperation among members on key issues.
- Pursue opportunities to
- Liberalize and expand trade, facilitate a more open environment for investment and develop initiatives to improve the flow of goods, services, capital and technology within the region
- Consult on issues of importance on that context and develop consensus to expand and strengthen these flows within the region and globally
- Reduce and remove distortions which impede these flows
The CTI oversees eight sub-groups
- Business Mobility Group (BMG)
- Digital Economy Steering Group (on work other than the APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap)
- Group on Services (GOS)
- Intellectual Property Rights Experts Group (IPEG)
- Investment Experts’ Group (IEG)
- Market Access Group (MAG)
- Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC)
- Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures (SCCP)
The CTI oversees three industry dialogues
Contacts
CTI Chair 2022-2023
Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade,
New Zealand
[email protected]
Program Director
Current Activities
CTI’s priorities and key activities
- Support for the multilateral trading system
- Advancing regional economic integration, including on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific Agenda
- Trade facilitation and strengthening connectivity and infrastructure
- Promoting innovative development and inclusive approaches
- Engagement with the business sector and industry dialogues.
An overview of the work of the CTI and its 11 subfora—the dialogues, initiatives and achievements made in 2021—are encapsulated in the 2021 CTI Annual Report to Ministers.
Activities in 2022
- Third CTI Meeting (26 & 27 Aug)
- Second CTI Meeting (15 & 16 May)
- First CTI Meeting 2022 (18, 21 & 22 Feb)
- Workshop on Opportunities and Challenges for Global Value Chains During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery (13 & 14 Oct)
- 14th APEC Alliance for Supply Chain Connectivity Meeting (7 Oct)
- Workshop on Digitalizing Customs Cooperation (5 Oct)
- Capacity Building Initiative on Carbon Pricing and Carbon Markets Workshop (21 Sep)
- Workshop on Current Trends on Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in Trade Agreements (25 Aug)
- Public-Private Dialogue on Promoting Transparency of Technical Barriers to Trade WTO Notifications: Improving Completeness and Clearness of Information (21-22 Aug)
- Workshop on Technology to Support Customs Procedures (3 Aug)
- Workshop on Facilitating Access to Open Government Data (27 Jul)
- APEC Bio-Circular-Green Symposium 2022 (20 May)
- Capacity Building Workshop for Accelerating Efforts on Inefficient Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Including Through Voluntary Self-Reporting 2022 (28 April)
- APEC Digital Trade Policy Dialogue (7 April)
- Committee on Trade and Investment Dedicated Session on Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond 2022 (15 March)
- Workshop on New-Normal Model of Trade Promotion in the Post Pandemic Era 2022 (4 March)
- Workshop on Effective Domestic Policymaking for Stimulating Economic Upgrading Through Global Value Chains (1 & 2 March)
- Report for the APEC Policy Discussions (9 Sep 2021) Trade-Related Policies to Promote Trade in Environmental Products and Technologies Including Regulatory Issues, Contributing to Global Carbon Neutrality
- Capacity Building Workshop on Regional Trade Agreement and Free Trade Agreement Negotiation Skills on Transparency 2022 (13-14 Jan)