International relations is considered an important aspect in the development of an economy and of a region by providing them opportunities to work together to address economic, social, political issues, environmental, and security issues. It allows economies to share information, technology, and best practices that can help them progress together. Such cooperation is realized through the participation and commitments in regional blocs, such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), where cooperation comes in many forms. Exploring the patterns of such cooperation provides an understanding of how APEC has evolved. It may highlight the achievements and learn from shortcomings. Also, exploring patterns of such cooperation provides direction APEC may take in the next decades. The quality of cooperation may also reveal how member economies have fared so far in their participation, as well as their economic or political stance on certain issues. To do such analysis, however, it must be noted that there are pieces of information that cannot be easily discerned by quantitatively analyzing available structured data. Analyzing cooperation may require a different type of methodology. This paper, therefore, explores the concepts and potential uses of content analysis in understanding international cooperation.
This paper presents how APEC has evolved as an institution, the changes it undergoes and the challenges it has faced for the past decades. More importantly, this paper tries to enumerate the roles of APEC in positioning the Philippines in the global economy. Established in 1989 in Canberra, Australia, with twelve founding members, APEC desired to promote economic growth, foster and strengthen trade, and improve the living standards in the Region. Started as a simple program for sectoral and trade initiatives, APEC has come to achieve to become the largest are of free trade and investment by 2020. Forged and adopted in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994, this challenge was known as the Bogor Goals, which aims to achieve long-term free and open trade not later than 2020; in particular, by 2010 for developed economies and by 2020 for developing economies. To ensure the achievement of Bogor Goals, three pillars were created as the main strategies of APEC. The first pillar is the Trade and Investment Liberalization. Through unilateral liberalization, APEC members voluntarily agree to liberalize a particular trade and investment area, including tariffs, non-tariff measures, services, investment, standards and conformance, customs procedures, and intellectual property rights, among others. This is done using the Individual Action Plans (IAPs), prepared by individual economy. The second pillar is Trade Facilitation, which eases and lessens the cost of doing business in the region by facilitating more efficient standards, customs, and other procedures relating to e-commerce, business travel, telecommunications, and government procurement, among others. The last pillar, the Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH), pertains to the collective actions of APEC to achieve its overall goals of attaining sustainable growth and improving economic and social well-being in the Region. The Trade and Investment Liberalization and Economic and Technical Cooperation were adopted in 1995 in Osaka, Japan, and are collectively known as the Osaka Action Agenda. In 1996, during the Manila Meeting, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Framework for Strengthening Economic Cooperation and Development was adopted to lay down the principles and priorities of ECOTECH. This is known as the Manila Action Plan for APEC (MAPA), which identified six priorities for ECOTECH, including the developing human capital; developing stable, safe and efficient capital markets; strengthening economic infrastructure; harnessing technologies for the future; safeguarding the quality of life through environmentally sound growth; and developing and encouraging the dynamism of small and medium enterprises. The initiatives put forward in APEC help the Philippines stimulate and improve the competitiveness of domestic producers and sectors. It is to the economy's advantage to utilize these initiatives, backed with the upgrading of domestic facilities to meet global standards and the aligning of domestic regulations. These address behind-the-border barriers that limit the flow of goods and services and expand the coverage of businesses to overseas markets. Trade agreements in APEC also help firms gain access to cheaper inputs and more advanced technologies, which foster competition and increased productivity and growth.
Capacity building is crucial and necessary in cooperation and integration efforts between two or among several country partners. In the negotiation process, the countries need to build a strong confidence shared among partners that what is being established will be generally fair, equitable, and beneficial to all concerned. Although forging trade agreements is not a simple zero-sum game, mutual benefits must still be evident to all parties and, hopefully, deemed to be enhanced to the satisfaction of all those involved. This requires capacity building at many levels – from the level of negotiators, to institutions and government bureaucracy, to the private sector that will eventually reap the benefits and/or deal with adjustments. However, this endeavor is easier said than done. At the very least, country partners should ensure the existence of a degree of transparency, a shared set of objectives, and a common effort to truly learn from and understand the perspectives of each other.
As several countries have reduced tariff rates, other forms of regulatory measures that impact on trade have proliferated. These regulations, collectively known as nontariff measures (NTMs), can be imposed on both imports and exports. Using descriptive indicators, NTMs could be measured with coverage ratios, frequency indices, and prevalence scores. For instance, the coverage ratios for all NTMs is found to be at 99.6 percent, which means that practically all of the imports value of the Philippines are affected. NTM chapters with the highest coverage ratio values, applied on all products, are Chapters C (preshipment inspection and other formalities), F (price control), and G (finance) at 99.6 percent followed by Chapter B (technical barriers to trade) at 89.5 percent. Across the different government agencies, it has been found that the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources both implement the most number of NTMs with 422 and 103 NTMs, respectively. Moreover, both agricultural goods and manufactured goods have been shown to be highly regulated at 92.2 percent and 93.9 percent, respectively, albeit agricultural goods have a higher prevalence score (19.8) compared to manufactured goods (8.9). Furthermore, between capital goods and consumption goods, results have shown that capital goods have a slightly higher frequency index (96.8%) compared with consumption goods (93.7%) despite both showing a similar number of NTMs. The relationship between NTMs and trade has shown that the average number of NTMs applied on a product group tends to have no association either with the growth rates of imports of that product group or with technical measures. However, the number of nontechnical measures show a negative correlation on the same. Likewise, imports growth is also negatively correlated with the number of consumer and customs NTMs although positive correlations were observed with process NTMs.
In 1993, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) published a report containing recommendations that recognized the economic interdependence and economic diversity of APEC economies and welcomed the challenge to achieve free trade in the Asia-Pacific. This came to be known as the "Bogor Goals." Nearing its conclusion in 2020, APEC sought a similar report that would guide APEC, which prompted the creation of the APEC Vision Group tasked to formulate a Post-2020 Vision for APEC. This study helped in the visioning process by providing an assessment of the perception of Philippine stakeholders. The results of the online perception survey showed that APEC's achievement of its economic goals is rated more highly compared to its environmental and social goals. Stakeholders are also more optimistic about APEC providing better trade and investment in the region than it is to achieving environmental and social scenarios. Further, stakeholders generally perceived that services needed increased priority than products post-2020. Interestingly, APEC's influence on shaping policies are weaker in government than the rest despite government being the prime participant in APEC. Also, Philippine stakeholders generally find that the APEC Business Travel Card is less beneficial. These results supported four recommendations. First, the limited awareness on APEC must be addressed. Second, Philippine stakeholders can maximize participation in APEC by adopting policies and best practices. Third, participation by Philippine stakeholders in seeking APEC project funding could be strengthened. Fourth, the requirements on the issuance of an ABTC for Philippine citizens could undergo a review.
Despite several studies exploring innovation activities in the Philippines, no clear answer has been provided to the question of whether having foreign linkages can induce knowledge transfer and innovation. This study probes deeper into the role of foreign linkages in the innovation activities of manufacturing firms in the CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon provinces) region. Using a probit estimation and an IV regression to control for endogeneity brought by omitted variable bias, the results show that foreign linkages can positively affect a firm's likelihood to undertake product innovation that involves the development of a new product using technology new to the firm. On the other hand, process innovation has consistently shown to be positively influenced by foreign linkages. These results indicate that having foreign linkages and participating in the global value chain can have a positive impact on both process and product innovations. Thus, it is important to highlight the need to promote stronger regional and global linkages to sustain the manufacturing growth in CALABARZON. Moreover, trainings that teach the 5S system through government channels such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and state universities and colleges are as important. Highlighting the role of industrial parks and recognizingthe value of establishment-level data are also key points in this study.
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or RCEP gathers 10 ASEAN Countries and five partners, namely, the Republic of Korea, China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. RCEP covers a market of 2.2 billion consumers and accounts for more than 30% of the global GDP. The agreement was signed last November 15, 2020 through a video conference with the abovementioned countries. RCEP is the largest free trade agreement and can be a catalyst for economic development for the Philippines. However, there are economic and political concerns being raised against RCEP. This paper contributes to the discussion on RCEP by providing a policy tool that calculates the impact of the trade agreement to exports and GDP. The calculations show that RCEP has positive impact on Philippine exports and GDP. Other top gainers would be Vietnam and Korea.
In January 2020, the Philippines joined the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on E-commerce which seeks to develop a multilateral agreement on trade-related aspects of e-commerce. This paper explores the costs and benefits of possible trade disciplines, particularly the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions. Based on estimates of digitizable products, the foregone revenue of a moratorium represents about 0.10 percent and 0.65 percent of national government revenues using the average MFN rate and the bound tariff rate, respectively. Estimates based on broader definitions of electronic transmission range from 0.59 to 1.38 percent and from 3.68 to 8.59 percent of national government revenues using the average MFN rate and bound rate, respectively. However, there are practical difficulties and policy constraints which could limit the actual intake from tariffs. Various barriers to cross-border data flows could also adversely affect not only data-intensive industries but the economy more broadly. Thus, the country should support trade rules that facilitate cross-border data flows. At the same time, the government must invest in digital infrastructure necessary for an efficient and effective tax system fit for the digital economy.
To develop a cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible, people-oriented, people-centered, and rules-based region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Community was established in November 2015. It is composed of three pillars: the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, and the ASEAN Political-Security Community. Each pillar corresponds to a blueprint and is a part of the general master plan ASEAN Community Vision 2025 with the theme "ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together". This study focuses on the AEC Blueprint 2025 and its characteristics and elements. More than five years since its establishment, there is a need to assess the performance of the Philippines in the AEC key result areas. By comparing the baseline with the most recent data, this study found that the Philippines is in the middle of the pack (ranking from 4th to 6th) among ASEAN countries. In terms of AEC vision and goals, the country's performance suggests that it is generally on track and progressing in the right direction.
In November 2015, the ASEAN Community composed of three (3) pillars: the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), and the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) was established as a response by the ASEAN Member states to the need to develop a Post-2015 Vision of a cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly people oriented, people -centered and rules-based ASEAN. Each pillar corresponds to a blueprint, and are part of the general master plan called ASEAN Community Vision 2025 with the theme "ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together". This study focuses on the AEC Blueprint 2025 and its characteristics and elements. After five years upon establishment, there is a need to assess how the Philippines has fared in achieving the key result areas in the AEC Blueprint 2025. By comparing the baseline with the most recent data, this study found that the Philippines is among the middle of the pack (ranking from 4th to 6th) among the ASEAN countries. In terms of AEC vision and goals, the Philippines performance suggests that the country is generally on track and is progressing in the right direction.
Education and training for productive employment play a crucial role in the social and economic plans of a developing country like the Philippines. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the country has been viewed as a tool to help equip the people with the necessary skills for employment. In effect, this increases their income potential, and eventually, remove them from poverty. To reach more people, more so, those in the remotest places, TESDA introduced information, communications, and technology (ICT) into TVET and launched the TESDA Online Program (TOP) in 2012. TOP is the first Philippine institution to offer massive open online courses. Current TESDA statistics estimate that more than a million Filipinos were able to access and utilize the TOP. This study assesses how ICT has enabled the Filipinos to have access and use online technical education offered free by e-TESDA program. It also acknowledges the unlimited opportunities offered by TOP through its courses and the potential number of users/beneficiaries. The vision of a globally competent Filipino workforce with advanced skills can be realized with the encouraging results of the TOP accreditation and certification. Read more about the recommendations on how to improve the current TOP in this study.
The world economy has undergone at least three waves of globalization; currently the fourth wave is on-going, sweeping away old certainties are being overturned. The Philippines, which has hitherto been reaping the growth dividend from the third wave of globalization owing to a functioning democracy, achieving monetary stability, liberalization of trade, and related market reforms. In a fast-changing world, the strategies forged previously may need a fundamental rethinking to enable the country to survive, and thrive, in an era of global transition. There are four key features of the new globalization: economic restructuring; worsening global inequality; threats to international cooperation in providing global public goods (GPGs); and weakening of traditional ties of social cohesion and trust. The paper develops set of recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders in the Philippines. Navigating the new globalization will be difficult, but not impossible: despite the drift towards mistrust and isolation, the paper argues for a renewed drive towards international cooperation, collaboration among public and private organizations, and adaptive policies in dealing with rapid economic and social change.
International relations is considered an important aspect in the development of an economy and of a region by providing them opportunities to work together to address economic, social, political issues, environmental, and security issues. It allows economies to share information, technology, and best practices that can help them progress together. Such cooperation is realized through the participation and commitments in regional blocs, such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), where cooperation comes in many forms. Exploring the patterns of such cooperation provides an understanding of how APEC has evolved. It may highlight the achievements and learn from shortcomings. Also, exploring patterns of such cooperation provides direction APEC may take in the next decades. The quality of cooperation may also reveal how member economies have fared so far in their participation, as well as their economic or political stance on certain issues. To do such analysis, however, it must be noted that there are pieces of information that cannot be easily discerned by quantitatively analyzing available structured data. Analyzing cooperation may require a different type of methodology. This paper, therefore, explores the concepts and potential uses of content analysis in understanding international cooperation.
Since the late 1990s, the internet has developed as a major force in transforming how companies do their business, which led to the rapid expansion of electronic commerce, or e-commerce. In 2016, the Department of Trade and Industry adopted the Philippine E-Commerce Roadmap in recognition to the potential of e-commerce in the expansion of Philippine businesses. In support to the Philippine E-Commerce Roadmap's first success criteria having 100,000 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) doing e-commerce, this study investigated the determinants of e-commerce adoption using the Philippine Statistics Authority's Survey of Information and Communications Technology as well as the Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry. The results showed that internal factors primarily determine e-commerce adoption in the Philippines. These factors include firm size, availability of computers, access to the internet, and firm use of information and communications technology (ICT) in other aspects of firm operations. Further, external factors, such as the growth rate of the industry in which the firm belongs and the market share of the firm have no statistically significant effects on e-commerce adoption. Given these results, this study recommended five actionable steps. First, bottlenecks caused by uncertainty and security concerns should be addressed. Second, government agencies need to support MSME's e-commerce adoption. Third, government agencies should assist firms in adopting ICT. Fourth, government can help provide access to finance to firms intending to adopt e-commerce. Fifth, reducing the cost and improving the quality of internet services should be pursued.
In 1993, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) published a report containing recommendations that recognized the economic interdependence and economic diversity of APEC economies and welcomed the challenge to achieve free trade in the Asia-Pacific. This came to be known as the "Bogor Goals." Nearing its conclusion in 2020, APEC sought a similar report that would guide APEC, which prompted the creation of the APEC Vision Group tasked to formulate a Post-2020 Vision for APEC. This study helped in the visioning process by providing an assessment of the perception of Philippine stakeholders. The results of the online perception survey showed that APEC's achievement of its economic goals is rated more highly compared to its environmental and social goals. Stakeholders are also more optimistic about APEC providing better trade and investment in the region than it is to achieving environmental and social scenarios. Further, stakeholders generally perceived that services needed increased priority than products post-2020. Interestingly, APEC's influence on shaping policies are weaker in government than the rest despite government being the prime participant in APEC. Also, Philippine stakeholders generally find that the APEC Business Travel Card is less beneficial. These results supported four recommendations. First, the limited awareness on APEC must be addressed. Second, Philippine stakeholders can maximize participation in APEC by adopting policies and best practices. Third, participation by Philippine stakeholders in seeking APEC project funding could be strengthened. Fourth, the requirements on the issuance of an ABTC for Philippine citizens could undergo a review.
