JICA-RI Researcher attends APEC Seminar on New Growth Paradigm

On November 27-28, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) co-hosted an “APEC Seminar on Sharing Experiences in Developing and Implementing New Growth Paradigm” in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. This seminar aimed to share experience in new growth paradigms and the lessons learned from them, in consideration of the 2009 APEC Leaders’ Statement on “a New Growth Paradigm for a Connected Asia-Pacific in the 21st Century,” the 2010 APEC Leaders’ Declaration on “the Yokohama Vision - Bogor and Beyond,” and “the APEC Growth Strategy.” From JICA-RI, Senior Research Advisor Akio Hosono attended the event.

In the seminar, the representative of the hosting Vietnamese government presented the details of its growth strategy. Subsequently, the delegates from Australia, Chile, China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and other countries introduced the initiatives of their respective countries on the same theme, followed by presentations from the World Bank, OECD, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Through the discussions based on the presentations, it was confirmed that many economies emphasize inclusive growth, sustainable growth, and green growth despite the difference in the growth models. While each economy has been reinforcing economic partnerships, it was indicated that the cooperation of APEC members is indispensable to strengthen resilience to external shocks, and that structural and regulatory reforms as declared in the APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform (ANSSR) have to be enhanced.

Dr. Hosono stated in his presentation that the TPP and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which are in the process of negotiation, pursue intraregional liberalization and integration and are expected to exert synergistic effects along with the economic reforms of the respective countries. He also introduced that in the field of sustainable growth, Japan has rich experience in energy conservation and renewable energy and has been advancing further initiatives under its new growth strategy.

To sum up the seminar, the representative of the organizer emphasized that under the current significant change in economy, society, and environment around the world, APEC assumes a crucial responsibility for transforming and restructuring the economy, taking into account external and domestic pressures. Furthermore, it was pointed out that while the new growth strategies and paradigms have attracted growing interest, it is important for each nation to share and learn the experiences and lessons and to advance discussions in light of the outcomes of the seminar since no standard framework applicable to all the economies exists.