CEBU City - The Philippines is urging other Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members to explore the critical role of services trade
in global value chains (GVCs) which can provide potential new sources of growth and jobs for the region.
"GVCs now account for more than 50 percent of global trade. The significant role of GVCs in international services trade creates a sense of urgency to make the services sector more competitive. So it’s very important for us to do further analytical work in the area,” said National Economic and Development Authority deputy director-general Emmanuel F. Esguerra.
The joint APEC Group on Services and Market Access Group (GOS-MAG) showcased studies of how select APEC economies opened markets for services in specific sectors to benefit from participation in GVCs.
"This initiative is definitely a progressive move towards creating a better understanding of how our economies can maximize GVC participation and how APEC can create the appropriate policy environment conducive to the growth of services value chains,” said Esguerra.
Esguerra, also the APEC GOS Convenor, underscored the importance of developing innovative services within GVCs and prioritizing services in the development agenda, addressing services and investment restrictions, and achieving balance in regulatory reform, among others.
Government think tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies, in a paper for the APEC 2015 Research Project, explained that the value chain is the full range of activities that firms and workers perform to bring a product from its conception to end use and beyond.
GVCs reflect the fact that activities that constitute a value chain have generally been carried out in inter-firm networks on a global scale.
"We would like to see greater participation of services in various GVCs that will increase productivity and add value to goods produced. In the process, these will create more jobs and make growth more inclusive,” Esguerra added. (PNA)
