ABOUT THE APEC BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL (ABAC)

THE APEC BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is the private-sector arm of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. The main mandate of this council is to advise Leaders and other APEC officials on issues of interest to business. ABAC also responds to requests from various APEC sub-groups for information about the business perspective of specific areas of cooperation.

Consisting of 63 members appointed by the leaders of each economic zone (three members per economic zone from 21 economies of Asia-Pacific), the APEC Business Advisory Council gathers every year at four council meetings and one APEC CEO Summit with a mission to discuss business perspectives and economic issues in order to finalize a set of recommendations to be presented to the APEC economic leaders in an annual dialogue.

In forging the 21 economies ahead, the members of the APEC Business Advisory Council 2022, under Thailand’s chairmanship, work together under five working groups guided by five strategic frameworks to enable stronger regional economic integration, elevated digital capabilities, better equipped businesses of all sizes, advanced sustainability practices, and resilient financial ecosystem throughout interconnected Asia-Pacific communities. Through rounds of meeting, each working group contributes key developments critical to drafting best community-centric recommendations for APEC economic leaders in 2022 year-end.

ABAC 2022 WORK PROGRAM

Under the theme of Embrace, Engage, Enable, the 2022 work program will focus on the following priorities:

Regional Economic Integration Working Group

Progressing pathway agreements towards the realization of FTAAP
Supporting the WTO and advocacy for the rules-based multilateral trading system
Strengthening services trade and investment
Reopening borders for safe and seamless travel

Digital Working Group

Establishing foundational digital infrastructure
Accelerating the adoption of digital tools for trade facilitation
Expanding vital physical infrastructure to expedite the digitalization of the economy and advance digital inclusion

MSME and Inclusiveness Working Group

Promoting digital transformation of MSMEs
Enhancing inclusion through women’s economic empowerment
Promoting sustainable practices
Building MSMEs’ financial capacity

Sustainability Working Group

Building next zero economy and promoting green recovery in APEC
Advancing realistic energy transition towards low-carbon in APEC
Fostering a sustainable food system

Finance and Economics Working Group

Promoting speedy and sustained recovery
Developing a public-private partnership framework for pandemic risk transfer
Financing the transition to sustainability
Building an enabling ecosystem for digital finance

Detailed recommendations will be developed during the course of 2022 on the priorities identified in the work program. ABAC's recommendations will be conveyed to APEC governments through a range of avenues including to APEC Senior Officials, Trade SME and Finance Ministers and directly to APEC Economic Leaders at the annual Dialogue with APEC Leaders.