APEC leaders endorse Services Competitiveness Roadmap

LIMA, December 21. /TASS/. APEC leaders endorsed an APEC Services Competitiveness Roadmap at the end of their summit conference in Peru on Sunday. The document aims to assure the competitiveness of services in the period of 2016 through to 2025. "We acknowledge that the services sector is a major contributor to productivity and growth within APEC," said a Declaration the leaders signed at the end of the summit. "Improved competitiveness in services as well as growth in services trade through an open and predictable environment for access to services is one of the key factors for APEC to boost its economic growth." "We also recognize that we need to address barriers that inhibit our businesses from competing or trading in services markets," it said. "We therefore endorse the APEC Services Competitiveness Roadmap (annexed to this Declaration) and instruct officials to monitor and evaluate progress in implementing the Roadmap, taking concrete actions and pursuing mutually agreed targets that will facilitate services trade and investment and enhance the competitiveness of the services sector, while addressing factors constraining the growth of trade as well as considering the differences in economic and social circumstances across APEC economies," the document said.. "We recognize that innovation is a key driver of quality growth," the declaration said. "In this regard, we encourage efforts to identify new growth engines, and will embrace the opportunities brought forth by sectors such as the Internet and Digital Economy." APEC leaders "recognize that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are an essential component for economies to achieve quality growth and prosperity." "As sources of innovation and employment, MSMEs are also well placed to promote entrepreneurship, to benefit from structural reform and to advance sustainability in our economies, maximizing the impact of policies, strategies and best practices," the declaration said. "Strengthening of MSMEs will imply concrete progress in increasing their innovation capacities and competitiveness, including intellectual property rights commercialization, work towards guaranteeing access to financial means and capacity building, enhancing their participation in the internet and digital economy and through electronic commerce, reducing the technological gap, strengthening ethical business practices to support MSMEs’ growth and cross border trade, progressively inducing a shift into a more sustainable, eco-friendly and green production, and supporting their internationalization including through the means of ICT," the document said. Read more