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2011/FWG-MRCWG/005

Agenda Item: 8

SCE Chair’s Report to SOM

Purpose: Information

Submitted by: APEC Secretariat

Forum Doc No 2011/SOM2/022rev1

/ 10th Joint Session of the Fisheries and Marine Resource Conservation Working Groups
Bali, Indonesia
6–8 June2011

SCE Chair’s Report to SOM

The second meeting of the SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) was held in Big Sky, Montana, United States on 15 May 2011. Key outcomes of the meeting were as follows:

  1. SCE discussed current streamlining efforts for sub fora and reiterated the timelines for review agreed at CSOM 2010.
  1. SCE considereda proposal for an APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) which would combine the strengths of the GFPN and the WLN by creating a single public-private entity to streamline and elevate the influence of women’s issues in APEC. Some concerns were expressed with certain elements of the proposal and a revised proposal has since been circulated to members for discussion at SOM.
  1. SCE endorsed the APEC Secretariat Executive Director’s report updating members on the current state of implementation of SCE fora work plans. The report was endorsed by the SCE and submitted to SOMs for information. The APEC Secretariat will take into consideration the suggestion to reformat the report to more effectively communicate the substantive outputs of the sub fora.
  1. SCE endorsed a proposal setting out a process for review ofhow independent assessments of sub fora are currently conducted with a view to making them more cost effective and valuable.
  1. SCE endorsed a self-funded project on “Building APEC Economies’ Capacities of Employing Input-Output Tables for Advanced Economic Modeling”.

Recommendations

It is recommended that SOM:

  1. Discuss the revised proposal for an APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy taking into consideration the discussions that have already taken place in the SCE.
  2. Note the APEC Secretariat Executive Director’s reportupdating members on the current state of implementation of SCE fora work plans.

Summary Report - SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH

15 May 2011

9h30 – 12h30

Big Sky, Montana, United States

The second meeting of the SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) was held in Big Sky, Montana, United States on May15, 2011. It was attended by representatives of all 21 APEC economies, including Senior Officials from 18 economies and the APEC Secretariat Executive Director.

The meeting was chaired by Ambassador Gennady Ovechko, Ambassador-at-Large, and the Senior Official of Russia for APEC. The Vice Chair of the meeting was Ambassador Kurt Tong, the US Senior Official for APEC, US Department of State.

Agenda Item 1: Welcome by SCEChair, Amb.Gennady Ovechko

The SCE Chair welcomed all members to the second meeting of the SCE in 2011 and encouraged members to actively participate in the discussions. He also thanked the United States for its hospitality and arrangements for this meeting.

Agenda Item 2: Adoption of the Agenda

The meeting agenda (2011/SOM2/SCE/001) was adopted without amendment.

Agenda Item 3: Review of SCE Fora Reform

3.1 SCE to continue its discussion of ways to streamline SCE fora

The Vice Chair led a discussion on sub fora accountability and communications (2011/SOM2/SCE/004). The Vice Chair introduced the discussion by recalling the plan agreed at CSOM 2010 to encourage sub fora to demonstrate to the SCE their ability to remain effective for APEC. The meeting also noted the updated document from the APEC Secretariat on sub fora participation in broader APEC activities and a new table outlining the communications activities of each of the sub fora. Disappointment was expressed with the participation of sub fora chairs and lead shepherds at the SCE-COW in Washington, D.C. despite the importance that the SCE had clearly signaled and the offer of travel funding that was extended.

According to the plan agreed at CSOM 2010 a number of sub fora will be requested to report at SCE3 on how they plan to contribute to rationalization efforts or provide an explanation for why they should remain unchanged. Economies were encouraged to be prepared to discuss and make decisions in this regard at SCE3 and CSOM this year.

Brunei requested that future updates of the table provided by the APEC Secretariat include a column on participation in Ministerial meetings. This suggestion was supported by the Vice Chair and otherswho have noticed decreasing levels of participation by Ministers in Small and Medium Enterprises and Tourismministerial meetings.

The Vice Chair also introduced a new proposal for anAPEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) (2011/SOM2/SCE/002 and 2011/SOM2/SCE/003). The PPWE would combine the strengths of the GFPN and the WLN by creating a single public-private entity to streamline and elevate the influence of women’s issues in APEC. The proposal includes the creation of the PPWE along with an administrative management council for this body and would empower the PPWE to provide policy recommendations to APEC leadership. The first meeting of the PPWE would take place in September 2011 in conjunction with the planned High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy in San Francisco.

A robust discussion on this proposal took place which indicated strong support for cooperation with the private sector. Some concern was expressed regarding the right degree ofinstitutionalization of private sector involvement in APEC sub-fora,including the make-up of the management council and the level of control this proposal would grant to private-sector participants. Economies also requested clarity on the expected attendance from each economy with members expressing uncertainty as to whether they should encourage attendance from Women’s Ministries or from Economic Ministries. Some economies asked for additional time in order to conduct internal consultations. Despite these reservations, most economies subscribed to the viewthat a new structure of this type would be a worthwhile experiment to elevate the impact of women’s issues in APEC.

In order to move forward in a timely fashion prior to September, the Vice Chair undertook to take into consideration the concerns expressed in this meeting and provide a revised proposal to members in the next 24 hours so that economies can review and consult domestically on the revised proposal for discussion at the upcoming Senior Officials Meeting.

3.2 SCE to consider the update by the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat on the Implementation of SCE Sub Fora Work Plans.

The Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Ambassador Noor presented his report on behalf of sub fora Chairs and Lead Shepherds (2011/SOM2/SCE/005). Ambassador Noor noted that the update demonstrates that there is a clearlinkbetween a forum having a well developed work plan and effective results. A positive note highlighted in the report is the increasing level of cooperation between sub fora, including the holding of joint meetings and increasing levels of cooperation in the area of APEC funded projects.

Canada noted that the report appears to present a “laundry list” of the work and discussions being undertaken in the sub fora and recommended that the Secretariat try to reformat the report to more effectively communicate the substantive outputs of the sub fora.

The SCE agreed to submit this report to SOM for information.

4. Independent Assessment of SCE Fora

4.1 Canada to provide a status update on the review of the process of independent assessments and ways to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.

Canada presented a proposal for SCE consideration setting out a process for review of the independent assessment process with a view to identifying to make the assessments more cost effective and valuable. SCE members supported Canada's suggestion to survey the consultants who have conducted previous assessments along with APEC economies and sub fora Chairs and Lead Shepherds to ask them what facets of the process could be changed or improved. The outcomes of these surveys will be compiled for discussion at SCE3.

The United States expressed support for this proposal and noted that the timeliness of this review as all SCE sub fora have now been subject to a review under the current format.

4.2 CTTF and TWG to report on process in implementing independent assessment recommendations.

On behalf of the CTTF Chair, Ms Anne Witkowsky, Mr Jim Steele of the United States reported on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2010 independent assessment of the CTTF (2011/SOM2/SCE/006). Most of the recommendations for the CTTF have either been implemented or are in process. The CTTF however, has taken the reform of their activities beyond the recommendations from this assessment as reflected in the medium term work plan developed last year. Two priority areas for the CTTF that have been developed in order to improve the effectiveness of the forum are cooperation with other APEC fora and capacity building and cooperation.

On behalf of the TWG Lead Shepherd, Ms Helen Marano, Ms Brenda Fisher of the United States reported on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2010 independent assessment of the TWG (2011/SOM2/SCE/007).During the TWG meeting which took place last week the group discussed the recommendations of the independent assessment and identified how they have or are in the process of implementing these recommendations, including through the updating of the strategic goals of the forum, development of a flagship project and focusing of activities on areas where APEC can make a difference such as reducing impediments to investments in tourism and tourism as vehicle for economic and social development. TWG also noted that at last year’s Tourism Ministerial Meeting 17 of 21 economies said that tourism is one of top three areas of focus for economic recovery and that tourism should remain a separate working group seeking ways to cooperate closely with other APEC fora such as the TPTWG, HRDWG and CTTF.

4.3 The Secretariat to present the progress report of the ongoing independent assessments of the EPWG, FWG and MRCWG, SMEWG, and MTF.

The meeting noted the APEC Secretariat Progress Report on the implementation of the Independent Assessments of the EPWG, FWG and MRCWG, SMEWG and MTF (2011/SOM2/SCE/008). Questions were raised regarding the impact of the potential merger of the FWG and MRCWG on the independent assessment currently underway, it was noted that the contractor undertaking the assessment is aware of the current situation and will take this into consideration in making his recommendations. The Terms of Reference may need to be revised if the two groups decide to recommend merger into a united Oceans Working Group. The Secretariat was also reminded to encourage the contractors to provide their reports as far in advance of SCE3 as possible.

5.Other Issues

5.1 Russia to present a self-funded project proposal “Building APEC Economies’ Capacities of Employing Input-Output Tables for Advanced Economic Modeling”.

Russia presented on their self funded project proposal "Building APEC Economies Capacities of Employing Input-Output Tables for Advanced Economic Modeling" (2011/SOM2/SCE/009). The presentation outlined the scope of the project, the expected outcomes and the value to APEC. Discussion and questions focused on the feasibility of the longer term objective of creation of a larger APEC regional input-output table for both technical and financial reasons and the capacity building needs that will be required in order for this to happen. Russia noted that this is an initial project which will help identify the current capabilities of APEC economies and what is required to move forward.

Japan also noted the capacity building efforts they have been conducting in this area with some ASEAN members over the past 5 years and suggested that this may be valuable groundwork for this project.

The SCE endorsed the project.

Other Issue – Location of the ABAC Secretariat

The Vice Chair also raised the issue of the location of the ABAC Secretariat for SCE consideration intersessionally. It was noted that the ABAC Secretariat is currently located in Manila while the APEC Secretariat is in Singapore. While thought has been given to moving the ABAC Secretariat to Singapore moving costs are currently an impediment. Economies were encouraged to consider this issue and discuss with the Vice Chair or the US delegation over the next week.

5.2 Document access - Members will be invited to decide on the classification of all documents relating to this meeting.

The SCE adopted the Document Classification List (2011/SOM2/SCE/000) without amendment.