APEC sub-committee discusses trade facilitation

8/24/2017 - 8:03:16 AM

The second meeting of the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC) began in Ho Chi Minh City on August 23, focusing on debating trade facilitation, alignment with international standards and active participation in international standardisation.

Delegates at the event

Delegates also discussed effective regulatory practices, technical infrastructure development, food and product safety, and standards and conformance education.

China presented a report on the project "Best practices sharing and technical capacity building for measurement and verification standards of energy savings.”

Malaysia reported on the project on "APEC product safety incidents information sharing system,” while the US talked about facilitating trade in information and communications technologies (ICT) projects through the encouragement of electronic labeling.

Vietnam shared it’s views on the best practices of the sharing of standards and conformity assessment implementation in smart cities of the APEC region.

Chile updated the project on "Facilitating trade through the strengthening of food safety emergency systems of APEC economies.”

The results of the meeting will be submitted to the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI).

The SCSC was established in 1994 to help reduce the negative effects that differing standards and conformance arrangements have on trade and investment flows in the Asia-Pacific region. In this way, the SCSC assists the CTI in achieving APEC's trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation agenda.

Source: NDO

Optimistic signals of the world economy

The world economy has overcome a challenging year, but has proven more resilient than expected. The Financial Times (UK) commented that 2023 was a positive year for the world economy as the economic surprise index collated by Citigroup shew that actual data have underwhelmed economists’ predictions for much of the past months. These economic trends are the basis for optimism about the world economy in 2024.

Laos announces theme, logo of ASEAN Chairmanship 2024

Laos has announced the theme and logo for its the Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2024.

Vietnam elected Vice President of UNESCO General Conference

Vietnam was elected a Vice President of the 42nd session of the UNESCO’s General Conference, representing the Asia-Pacific, on November 8.

Safe and responsible use of AI promoted

Since the "blockbuster" ChatGPT was launched a year ago, the prospects for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as concerns about the risks from this technology, have become hot topics in the technology world.

Successfully completing the training program to improve the capacity of implementing the Government’s policy in Korea

(HBO) - From September 12 - 23, in Seoul, South Korea, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) organized a training program under the project "Supporting the Academy of Journalism and Communication to improve the the capacity of implementing the Govermmment’s policy” in phase 2 with the coordination and the coordination of Hyundai Research Institute (HRI).

KOICA fellowship programme 2023 opens in Republic of Korea

(HBO) – The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) opened a fellowship programme in Seoul on September 13 under Phase 2 of a project that helps Vietnam’s Academy of Journalism and Communication (AJC) enhance its capacity of implementing government policies.