The Philippines, through the Board of Investments (BOI), once again hosted the APEC Automotive Dialogue (AD), a sectoral working group under the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) that serves as a forum for APEC member economy officials and senior industry representatives to work together to map-out strategies for increasing the integration and development of the automotive sector within the region. The dialogue was attended by 12 APEC member economies and one guest economy.
The 25th APEC AD, which was held on September 19 to 22, 2016 at the Makati Diamond Residences, was the fourth meeting the Philippines hosted for the working group since last year. The meeting focused on promoting SME integration into the global value chain (GVC). The Philippines continues to support APEC’s priority on MSMEs’ development and internationalization as well as enhancing the regional economic integration and sustainable and inclusive growth in the Asia-Pacific region, and has championed it in the various working groups it participates in, including the APEC AD. Through various projects and initiatives, the Philippines hopes to contribute to this endeavor and improve the status of MSMES both here and abroad.
One of the projects under the AD is “Promoting SME’s Integration into Global Value Chains (GVC) in Major Industries for Automotive Sector” (or GVC-SME-Automotive-Sector (GSAS)) Project. The project, initiated by the Philippines in partnership with Malaysia, conducted a survey to study the status of the auto SMEs in the region, and has recommended the further development of SMEs. A workshop will be organized, inviting SMEs from all over APEC, to deliberate on the best practices or practical solutions and programs to best integrate SME suppliers into the automotive GVCs.
Aside from SME development, the APEC AD also touches on electric vehicles (EV) and trade facilitation.
An APEC EV Roadmap was developed in cooperation with the APEC Energy and Transportation Working Groups. A series of workshops will be conducted to address each of the APEC Actions listed in the Roadmap and consolidate undertakings, capacity building, and next steps for presentation to APEC Leaders in 2017. The first workshop for the roadmap was conducted on the second day of the 25th APEC AD, and speakers and participants from various APEC member economies were invited to take part in the workshop.
The AD is also keeping compendiums on automotive business regimes and taxes in the APEC Region. These are intended to serve as investment guide for investors in the region, and contain useful information/data on individual member economies.
For 2017, Viet Nam will be hosting the APEC meetings, including the Automotive Dialogue. As such, the Philippines has passed on the Chairmanship to Viet Nam during the AD. Nevertheless, the BOI and the local industry will continue to actively participate in this meeting and champion the development of MSMEs and the automotive industry in the region.