Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva, participated in the Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) which took place in Boracay (Philippines) on May 23-24.
She thanked the Trade and Industry Secretary of Philippines, Gregory Domingo, for the ambitious agenda presented and expressed her desire to continue focusing on these topics in 2016, when Peru hosts APEC summit’s 2016 edition.
APEC is an event gathering the 21 most important Asia-Pacific region’s economies. It also allows the interaction of its authorities by displaying a scenario favorable for strengthening the trade relations.
APEC 2015 Philippines established priorities to be discussed on this year’s summit edition: The Regional Economic Integration Agenda; Fostering SMEs’ Participation in Regional and Global Markets; Investing in Human Capital Development and Building Resilient and Sustainable Communities.
The meeting also focused on topics related to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and those linked to the post-Bali Work Programme (focusing on agriculture, manufacture and services).
According to Silva, the said program should “not only focus on agriculture, manufacture and services sectors.” Instead, it also "should also include subjects related to the Doha Development Agenda.”
"It is essential for Peru, which interests go beyond those three areas; being the main ones the fisheries subsidies and negotiations on the rights of intellectual property linked to genetic resources and ancestral knowledge used in inventions," she told.
The WTO (World Trade Organization) Director-General, Roberto Azevedo, supported the Peruvian Minister’s opinion and emphasized Peru as model for ancestral knowledge and intellectual property defense.
The Foreign Trade Ministers also reviewed the advances of the Regional Economic Integration, specifically concerning the study of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) to be concluded in November, 2016.
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