Marcos urges APEC economies to address challenges faced by region's service sector

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. urged Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies to address the challenges faced by the region’s service sector, particularly the shipping and logistic services -  the backbone of global trade and investment.

According to Mariz Umali’s “24 Oras Weekend” report on Saturday, Marcos, during his intervention at the APEC Leader's Speech and Formal Dialogue, also appealed for an end to the discrimination against products that come from small businesses.

The President also called APEC leaders to address climate change, saying it was the “the greatest existential threat” affecting the region.

“APEC has done remarkable work in embedding a sustainability agenda as part of its Vision and Action Plan. We should act swiftly to set it in motion,” Marcos said in his intervention during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) Retreat Session II.

He said that the regional economic bloc can and should contribute to a trade and investment environment that assists economies in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, facilitating climate financing, and ensuring genuine and effective technology transfer for the most vulnerable developing countries.

Marcos also emphasized the need to renew APEC’s commitment to investing in food security.

“We need to take concrete steps towards modern and resilient agriculture. Food is not just a trade commodity, it is not a livelihood; it is a survival imperative, it is a moral imperative. It is the very basis of human security,” he said.

“To attain food self-sufficiency and security, we are providing innovative solutions and financial support to farmers and fisherfolk to adopt new technologies and connect to national and global value supply chains,” he added.

The President said the APEC can pursue closer cooperation “to address plastics pollution, encourage sustainable plastics trade, and move towards a circular regional economy.”

He said the Philippines was carefully evaluating the imposition of an excise tax on single-use plastics to curb plastic pollution in favor of more sustainable alternatives. — Richa Noriega, GMA Integrated News