Digital Economy Requires Multilateral ApproachAPEC

Paris, France, 12 March 2019
Issued by the APEC Secretariat

The APEC Secretariat and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, will strengthen its collaborative efforts to support sustainable inclusive growth in the Asia Pacific region, said APEC Executive Director Dr Rebecca Sta Maria during her meeting with OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria.

“The OECD is an integral partner for APEC’s efforts to strengthen our economies for the 21st century, and we look forward to working closer together in the future, particularly on the digital economy, a top priority for APEC Chile 2019,” said Dr. Sta Maria.

“The digital economy transcends borders and poses unfamiliar challenges,” she added. “Strong multilateral collaboration will be key to helping our economies navigate and succeed in this uncharted territory.”

Dr. Sta Maria addressed the challenges and opportunities of the digital economy during her participation in the OECD Going Digital Summit, a high-level conference, which includes discussion of two seminal research reports. The summit brings together high-level policymakers responsible for the digital economy. 

The OECD has a long-standing relationship with APEC that is based on policy research, knowledge sharing, and capacity building. The OECD and the APEC Policy Support Unit have an existing memorandum of understanding for closer cooperation.

“The Asia-Pacific region is vital to global economic growth. The OECD is committed to working with APEC and APEC economies in their goal to foster sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Stronger multilateral collaboration on policy formulation – particularly related to improving connectivity, access, and security – can go a long way in helping ensure that digital transformation will be beneficial to all,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.

The OECD’s contributions to APEC include providing substantive work on measuring the digital economy (including its gender divide) and international regulatory cooperation. Also in the works are a joint analysis with APEC on effective approaches to infrastructure financing and regular updates on international tax cooperation and transparency. The OECD is also willing to support APEC’s priorities on blockchain and digitalization in finance.

During her two-day visit to the OECD’s headquarters in Paris, Dr. Sta Maria also participated in a high-level panel discussion on investment treaties, focusing on recent and ongoing treaty practice in the APEC region, particularly related to state-owned enterprises. She also delivered an informal briefing to OECD members and Ambassadors on APEC’s priorities for 2019.

Chile is the first OECD economy to host the APEC meetings since 2011.