Dr. Wanchat Suwannakitti, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council, participated in the APEC Economic Committee (EC) meeting, which is one of APEC’s main committees, during Thailand’s hosting of the 3rd APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting and related meetings held at Shangri-La Hotel, Chiang Mai Province. The key meeting contents were as follows:<\/p>\n\n
1. The 2nd APEC Economic Committee Meeting (EC2) was held on August 26-27, 2022, with discussions on advancing structural reform issues under the Enhanced APEC Agenda on Structural Reform (EAASR) and deliberations on approaches for preparing the EAASR mid-term review report, as well as discussions on issues of regional interest including sustainable and environmentally friendly recovery, good regulatory practices, the use of innovation and digital technology to promote public sector governance, approaches to implementing business-enabling environment initiatives, trade competition policies, and sustainable corporate governance practices. As Thailand’s APEC host, Dr. Wanchat proposed the topic for the 2023 APEC Economic Policy Report: “Structural Reform and Enabling Environment for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Business,” which will focus on structural reform and regulatory improvements to create an environment that supports sustainable, socially responsible, and environmentally friendly business operations in the APEC region, with Thailand and the United States serving as Core Team Co-Leads alongside 8 other economies that will form the Core Team.<\/p>\n\n
2. The Policy Dialogue on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) under the topic “Easier Access to Credit” was held as part of the EC2 meeting agenda on August 27, 2022. This policy dialogue represents one of the concrete deliverables of Thailand’s APEC host year, with NESDC collaborating with the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) as event hosts. The first session featured experience sharing on policies and measures supporting credit access, including collateral information systems, Comprehensive Credit Reporting, alternative credit data, and MSME credit access assistance programs. The second session discussed the feasibility of promoting Cross-border Credit Information Collaboration within the APEC region. <\/p>\n\n
3. The 15th Good Regulatory Practice Conference (GRP15) was held on August 24, 2022, with NESDC serving as host in collaboration with the Office of the Council of State (OCS). This GRP conference focused on exchanging experiences in using regulatory measures and structural reforms to support the adoption of digital technology in managing the impacts of COVID-19 and subsequent recovery. The meeting emphasized the importance of applying GRP in designing regulations or policies to respond to COVID-19 in a timely manner by leveraging digital technology. Beyond using GRP for agile policy formulation, importance should also be placed on multi-stakeholder participation and enhancing International Regulatory Cooperation (IRC) to align with the global development context characterized by volatility, high dynamism, and borderless interconnectedness. <\/p>\n\n
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