SCE Chair s Report to SOM

Transcription

1 SCE Chair s Report to SOM The SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) met in Nha Trang, Viet Nam on 1 March Key outcomes of the meeting were as follows: 1. The SCE established its 2017 Work Plan (2017/SOM1/SCE/002). 2. The SCE took note of the Report of the APEC Secretariat s Executive Director on the Alignment of Fora Work Plans with APEC s Overall Vision and Objectives (2017/SOM1/SCE/008) and requested the Secretariat to report back to SCE on revising the workplan template on the gender issue. 3. The SCE designated Peru as TFI coordinator. 4. The SCE decided to take up the Strategic Plans of EPWG (2017/SOM1/SCE/010) at the next SCE meeting. 5. The SCE decided to recommend the revised Terms of Reference of EWG (2017/SOM1/SCE/003) for SOM s approval. 6. The meeting noted that, while there were many statements in support of the proposal by Russia on its concept paper Bridging Gap in Economic Development and Integration of Remote Areas for Sustainable Growth in the APEC Region (2017/SOM1/SCE/004), there was also a general inclination to seek to refine the paper. The SCE decided to allow the economies to send their comments in by 21 March The SCE Chair suggested that Russia can present the paper for SOM s information and to retable it at SCE 2 for consideration through intersessional process. 7. The SCE took note of the planned ministerial meetings for Recommendations It is recommended that SOM: 1. Note this report; and, 2. Approve the Terms of Reference of EWG (2017/SOM1/SCE/003). Attachments: Summary Report of SCE1 of

2 Summary Report - SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH 1 March 2017 Nha Trang, Viet Nam 1. The First meeting of the SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) was held in Nha Trang, Viet Nam on 1 March It was attended by representatives of all 21 APEC economies, the APEC Secretariat Executive Director and PECC. 2. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador Ivan Pomaleu, Senior Official of Papua New Guinea for APEC. The Vice Chair of the meeting was Ms Quynh Mai PHAM, Alternate Senior Official from Viet Nam. Agenda Item 1: Welcome by SCE Chair and Adoption of the Agenda 3. The SCE Chair welcomed all members to the first meeting of SCE in The meeting adopted the draft agenda (2017/SOM1/SCE/001) with notes that the U.S. would raise an issue under 5.3 and Russia would add a presentation on APEC BEST (Business Efficiency and Success Target) Award under 7. Agenda Item 2: 2017 SCE Work Plan 5. The Chair proposed the adoption of the 2017 SCE Work Plan (2017/SOM1/SCE/002) by highlighting SCE s continued work on Capacity Building Policy, implementation of developing specifics of new Fora Assessment, improvement of SCE COW arrangements and further work on cross-fora collaboration. The meeting adopted the proposed Work Plan. Agenda Item 3 : Implementation of APEC Capacity Building Policy 6. Referring to the BMC SCE Joint Meeting held on 27 February 2017, the Chair noted that SCE, jointly with BMC, had agreed on the proposed reforms to the project approval process and this outcome had been reported to the SCE COW on the previous day. Agenda Item 4 : Review of the Operation of and the Policies on SCE Fora Item 4.1 Report of the APEC Secretariat Executive Director on the Alignment of Fora Work Plans with APEC s Overall Vision and Objectives 7. The Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat presented his report on the Alignment of Fora Work Plans with APEC s Overall Vision and Objectives (2017/SOM1/SCE/008). He noted that some of the fora had challenges in submitting their workplans in time, which is partly due to late establishment of host priorities and Funding Criteria. He reported that the fora s workplans are generally in line with the overall APEC goals, while there is still room to further improvement, in particular on gender perspective and identifying tools and ways to implement their objectives. He also drew attention to the fact that some fora were not able to meet the quorum requirements. 8. Some members expressed their concerns about the failure to meet the quorum by certain fora together with the low attendance at the ministerial level meetings. They underlined a need for more discipline on this matter or measures to boost attendance on such important issues as oceans. Some delegations also urged the fora to work together with the other fora and other organizations to reduce 2

3 any duplication of work and improve effectiveness. The Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat indicated that counting remote participants against quorum could be considered. 9. The Philippines suggested to revise the workplan template for the fora to highlight gender issues in their workplan. The Chair requested the Secretariat to consider this option and to report to SCE The meeting took note of the report. Item 4.2 Improvement of SCE and SCE COW arrangements 11. The Chair presented his intention to streamline the existing SCE-COW process to better facilitate cross fora discussions to ensure maximum output from the SCE-COW dialogues. He explained that streamlining the SCE meetings was not only necessary to facilitate discussions on cross cutting issues but also, to provide the opportunity for meaningful exchanges on issues concerning more than one fora; to converse on existing collaboration initiatives; and to explore new areas to collaborate to progress the priorities in any given year, and in turn the broader objectives of APEC. 12. The Chair proposed for future hosting of the meeting, to continue the trend set during SCE-COW in 2017 where special sessions were organized for thematic discussions on the 2017 priorities. He also highlighted that improvements would need to be made to make the actual SCE-COW meeting more targeted and relevant to its purposes. 13. No adverse comments were received. Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Indonesia and Thailand while supporting this, expressed the need to ensure that the discussions at the SCE-COW are more focused and meaningful. 14. The Chair also took the opportunity to present his intention, as SCE Chair for 2017, to strengthen cross-fora collaboration through the development of APEC Guidelines on Cross-Fora Collaboration. This would essentially be a set of minimum standards and requirements for APEC Fora to engage on areas of interest and concern to more than one Fora, and on existing cross-cutting issues. In acknowledging the ongoing work and practice carried out such as the cross-fora Mapping exercise, joint meetings, joint projects, reporting at SCE-COW, amongst other, the Guidelines will draw from the APEC Secretariat Recommendation contained in their Report on Cross-Fora Collaboration, to streamline these activities and have them contained in the proposed Guidelines. 15. Papua New Guinea further elaborated on this initiative and expressed their intention to work on Draft Guidelines between SCE1 and SCE2 in 2017, whereby the Draft would be circulated intersessionally during this period and presented at SCE for members consideration and to obtain the relevant endorsement. No adverse comments were received on this proposal. 16. China and the Philippines welcomed and expressed their support for this initiative. Item 4.3 Other Policy Issues 17. No issues were raised under this item. Agenda Item 5 : Fora Administration Item 5.1 Fora Strategic Plans 18. The APEC Secretariat reported on the current status of the SCE sub-fora s Strategic Plans (2017/SOM1/SCE/007). The meeting took note of the report. 3

4 19. The APEC Secretariat noted late submission of the Strategic Plan of the Emergency Preparedness Working Group (2017/SOM1/SCE/010) for the term of The meeting decided to defer the decision on this till SCE2, while allowing the members to comment on this plan. Item 5.2 Fora Terms of Reference 20. On behalf of the Lead Shepherd of Energy Working Group (EWG), the APEC Secretariat introduced the proposed revision to the Terms of Reference of EWG (2017/SOM1/SCE/003) highlighting the elements to reflect the current organizational structure of EWG with its subsidiary bodies. The meeting agreed to recommend the revised ToR to SOM. Item 5.3 Other Administrative Actions 21. The meeting took note of the submission of TELWG s Response to Independent Assessment (2017/SOM1/SCE/005) and the submission of PPSTI s Meeting Executive Summary (2017/SOM1/SCE/009). 22. The Chair noted that the ToR of TFI provides SCE s designation of TFI coordinator. 23. Peru reiterated its willingness to assume the role of coordinator of TFI, which was supported by the U.S. and Japan. The meeting designated Peru as the coordinator of TFI in accordance with the ToR of TFI. Agenda Item 6 : Scheduling of Ministerial Meetings in Viet Nam briefed on the schedules of the planned Sectoral Ministerial Meetings for 2017 as follows : May HLPD on HRD May Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) June High-Level Policy Roundtable on Sustainable Tourism Aug HLPD Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture Sept SME Ministerial Meeting (SMEMM) Sept HLPD on Women and the Economy Oct Finance Ministerial Meeting (FMM) Nov AELM 25. In responding to Japan s question about hosting Energy Ministerial Meeting, the APEC Secretariat stated that there were challenges for any economy to host it. Viet Nam hoped that this could be hosted by another member economy. 26. Korea informed the meeting of its plan to host the 4 th Forestry Ministerial Meeting. The U.S. stated that, considering high frequency of the Forestry Ministerial Meetings both within and outside APEC, their outcomes should be evaluated before scheduling additional meetings in the future. Korea clarified that the Forestry Ministerial Meeting had been held every two years. China stated that there needs to be higher level meeting to discuss such issues as sustainable forestry management as the expert group discussion has its limitation on the scope. 27. The meeting took note of the schedules of the ministerial level meetings. Agenda Item 7 : Other Business 4

5 28. Russia presented its concept paper on Bridging Gap in Economic Development and Integration of Remote Areas for Sustainable Growth in the APEC Region (2017/SOM1/SCE/004 and 006), cosponsored by four economies, for consideration and endorsement at the SCE. 29. The majority of the members, who spoke on this issue, expressed their support for the objectives of such initiative. A number of members are of the view that further refinement is necessary. 30. Some delegations underlined the importance to avoid duplication of work by certain APEC work streams, including Connectivity Blueprint, and to reduce organizational burden. Certain members suggested to take certain concrete activities at the working group level. A member also stated that it would consult with the domestic stakeholders first. 31. A couple of members believed that this initiative would form a platform to build upon. 32. The Chair noted that while there were many statements in support of the proposal, there was also a general inclination to seek to refine the paper taking into account work that is being done in the different fora. The meeting agreed to allow the economies to send their comments in by 21 March The Chair suggested that Russia can present the paper for SOM s information and to retable it at SCE 2 for consideration through intersessional process. 33. Russia also shared the result of APEC BEST (Business Efficiency and Success Target) Award contest, the details of which can be found on the APEC website and informed about its intention to arrange the second round of the contest in the margins of the HLPD on Women and the Economy in September Japan briefed the meeting of its project on labour mobility, which includes a study on jobs, skills and qualification across the borders. Agenda Item 8 : Document Access 35. The meeting established the document classification list (2017/SOM1/SCE/000). *** 5