APEC trade ministers adopted a set of recommendations to ensure the protection of maritime crew at the Philippine-led Policy Roundtable on the Safe Passage of APEC Maritime Crew as part of the meetings during the 33rd APEC Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok.

During the meeting Thursday, Nov. 17, Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual urged economies to implement “sound government policies and cooperative measures” that will provide for the health and safety of essential workers.

As a contribution to APEC’s work to build resilient supply chains, the Philippines is leading the initiatives on the safe passage of maritime crew. Pascual emphasized that maritime crew and seafarers are key actors of supply chains and are responsible in the delivery of essential goods and products.

The Philippines is among the major supplier countries of seafarers. Maritime workers are vital to the Philippine economy with 252,393 Filipino seafarers deployed in 2021 to international vessels, according to an UNCTAD report. Seafarers are among the major sources of dollar remittances to the Philippines.

With that, APEC members adopted a set of recommendations to ensure their protection.

Pascual emphasized that the world is facing many challenges including inflation and other uncertainties, thus, the need to enhance cooperation to achieve a strong recovery together with a view to promote sustainable trade and development.

In line with this, he highlighted the imperative to keep the market open for trade and investment under a functioning rules-based trading system.

“Respect and observance of the rules-based trading system is a pre-requisite to a conducive open market and a crucial element in promoting trade and sustainable development,” Pascual said.

Further, he called on ministers to observe the decisions and agreements made at the 12th WTO Ministerial Meeting held last June in Geneva, Switzerland. He also expressed the Philippines’ commitment to implement the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, and its active engagement in the agriculture negotiations and the TRIPS waiver, among others.

On the Philippines' trade policy agenda, Secretary Pascual shared that the innovation-centered strategy of the Philippines aims to attain sustainable and inclusive development. Also, as the champion of MSMEs in APEC agenda, the Philippines spearheaded the Boracay Action Agenda to Globalize MSME initiative to facilitate MSMEs’ participation in global commerce.

Notably, the Country's advocacy on the integration of MSMEs into the global value chain and trade policy agenda has been gaining traction. In addition to the discussion at the World Trade Organization (WTO), MSME is now one of the emerging subjects in free trade agreement negotiations.

Recognizing the important role of APEC, the Trade Chief also highlighted its long history of promoting structural reforms to achieve balanced and sustainable growth.

“By fostering transparency and competition in our markets, we can be more resilient to economic shocks and better poised to achieve macroeconomic stability and productivity", the Trade Chief added.

The APEC Ministers convened in Bangkok, Thailand for the first time since 2019 amidst the backdrop of increasing inflation, energy and food crisis, and climate change. Further, the Ministers adopted a statement to outline future work to pursue in APEC 2023 under the US Chairmanship.