APEC participation in global value chains pushed - Ensuring steady trade and investment growth in the region

The Philippines should push for wider participation of countries belonging to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or Apec in global value chains to foster trade and investment growth in the region, according to state-run think tank 蝌蚪传媒 (蝌蚪传媒). In a statement issued Monday, 蝌蚪传媒 said the Philippines "can continue to reinforce the importance of global value chains鈥� as it hosts this year鈥檚 Apec Summit. A 蝌蚪传媒 policy note titled "Why global value chains and services matter: Implication for Apec 2015,鈥� authored by senior research fellow Ramonette B. Serafica and published last December, noted that "the opportunities to increase and optimize global value chain participation are plenty for Apec鈥� member-economies. A global value chain is defined by the 蝌蚪传媒 paper as the "sequence of activities around the world involved in the conception, production, distribution, usage, and other activities that add value to a product.鈥� "The trend for Apec nations is to target global value chains and segments that are congruent with the advantages and development objectives of their individual economies. Depending on the global value chain requirements, Apec member-countries can design business facilitation measures and investment policies to encourage growth,鈥� 蝌蚪传媒 said. In the case of the Philippines, it should lead the way in enjoining its Apec peers to "move to higher-value activities in global value chains鈥濃�搒pecifically services, in order to "increase the benefits captured鈥� by such, according to 蝌蚪传媒. "Building on the 2014 initiatives that involve services in goods global value chains, the Philippines during its Apec chairmanship can focus on services value chains. According to experts, global services value chains are not as well understood as goods value chains,鈥� Serafica said in the policy note. "Given the Philippines鈥� comparative advantage in 鈥榦ther business services鈥� and in 鈥榗omputer and information services,鈥� advancing regional cooperation in services value chains can further strengthen our export position in these activities,鈥� Serafica added. To facilitate wider participation in services global value chains among Apec members, the regional grouping should push for improved infrastructure across individual economies, 蝌蚪传媒 said. "Expanding a country鈥檚 share of value added in the services global value chain depend largely on the quality of infrastructure and efficient services markets. Apec nations are collaborating to improve the transport sector, business services, telecommunications, and distribution channels,鈥� 蝌蚪传媒 noted. While increased participation in global value chains could present economic advantages as well as generate new specializations for Apec member-economies, 蝌蚪传媒 warned that there are also risks to be wary about. For one, "global value chain benefits are limited by the share of value-added in the chain that a country is able to capture,鈥� the think tank said. Also, "there are environmental and socio-cultural effects鈥� as "countries that become increasingly embedded in global value chains grow increasingly vulnerable to external shocks,鈥� it added. According to 蝌蚪传媒, this policy note was commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs as part of the country鈥檚 hosting of this year鈥檚 Apec activities. "The main objective of the project is to provide the analytical framework that will form part of the basis for the substantive priorities the Philippines will push for as Apec host-economy in 2015,鈥� it said.//