Annual Report of the APEC Secretariat 25 th APEC Ministerial Meeting

Transcription

1 2013/AMM/007 Agenda Item: 9 Annual Report of the APEC Secretariat 25 th APEC Ministerial Meeting Purpose: Consideration Submitted by: APEC Secretariat Forum Document No.: 2013/CSOM/ th APEC Ministerial Meeting Bali, Indonesia 4-5 October 2013

2 Executive Summary The Annual Report of the APEC Secretariat to the 25 th APEC Ministerial Meeting outlines the progress in the implementation of the three-year Strategic Plan of the APEC Secretariat ( ) over the year. Highlights include: The appointment of a new Executive Director; Help support the Indonesia Year as APEC host; Strengthening the APEC Secretariat capacity; Working to improve project selection, management and evaluation; Communicating a busy year s outputs; Further developing research and monitoring by the Policy Support Unit; Recruiting work for a new Chief of Staff; Working to enhance the role of Program Directors; Commencing the Financial Realignment project; and Agreement to pursue an aspirational goal for project funding. Required Action/Decision Points AMM is invited to consider and approve the Annual Report of the APEC Secretariat. 1

3 Annual Report of the APEC Secretariat Twenty-Fifth APEC Ministerial Meeting Introduction This document reports on progress at the APEC Secretariat during the 2013 year to date (complete to about September). It reflects my first year in the position of Executive Director. The Report covers a wide range of activities at the Secretariat, and notes some new initiatives underway. Current Strategic Plan ( ) The Secretariat is currently working through the last year of the Strategic Plan ( ). The Plan principally consists of five Strategic Intent Statements: Provide high quality and consistent advisory, operational and logistical/technical services to member economies and APEC fora to coordinate and facilitate the business of the forum; Align projects to APEC s strategic goals and maximize their effectiveness and efficiency by advising and assisting APEC members in preparing, implementing and improving APEC-funded projects and processes; Enhancing awareness, understanding and support of APEC s role, agenda and achievements through a range of communications, outreach and media activities targeted at key stakeholders; Provide research and analysis support to fora and members so that policy development is evidenced-based, internal capacities are enhanced and implementation of policy measures can be evaluated; and Manage its internal resources effectively and cost-efficiently, as well as strengthening processes to ensure their alignment with business needs. The Secretariat s Operational Plan this year has continued to focus on implementation of the last year of the three-year Strategic Plan : 2

4 Strengthening APEC Secretariat Capacity In the effort to raise the quality of service to fora and members, efforts in the area of capacity building for Secretariat staff have included: Continuing with capacity-building programs for staff and developing an Annual Training Plan setting out training programs to bridge skill gaps; The continued attention to encourage a learning and knowledge-sharing environment through regular staff meetings to discuss issues, and participation in external workshops on relevant subjects; The conduct of a two-day staff retreat on 1-2 August 2013 to stock-take the Secretariat s progress and development to-date and to discuss a new three-year Strategic Plan for The retreat was made possible by funding from APEC TATF; and The Secretariat Strategic Plan underpins the direction and work that will be taken forward over the next three years and has been submitted to CSOM for Senior Officials to note progress. In parallel to the above developmental activities, the Secretariat assisted in meetings at Ministerial, Senior Official, Committee, Working Group and Task Force level. The Secretariat s activities included advising and monitoring the reform of APEC fora adopted by the Steering Committee on ECOTECH Fora Review. See Annex A for details. The Secretariat also advised the SCE Chair in directing APEC fora develop medium-term strategic plans that ensure their priorities and activities are aligned with APEC s goals. Following a visit to the ASEAN Secretariat in June 2011 and a subsequent mapping exercise undertaken by the APEC Secretariat with the assistance of APEC TATF to identify areas of possible collaboration and mutual interest to both organizations, the ASEAN Secretariat has since updated 3

5 related ASEAN activities in the mapping exercise document. The APEC Secretariat will identify relevant initiatives that may be of interest to fora for possible collaboration. Project Management The Secretariat s Project Management Unit has focused on progressing Budget and Management Committee-led reforms in several key areas including: Continuing the implementation of the pilot phase of Multi-Year Projects (MYPs) which commenced in Twelve projects were selected under the pilot at a total value of $5.4 million. A mid-term review of the pilot is scheduled for 2014; Developing a system to evaluate the impacts of APEC projects. A tool for conducting evaluations was designed and approved by members and existing systems will be enhanced to support future evaluations; Strengthening information management systems relating to projects including the upgrade of the Project Database and the digitization of the Project Guidebook to enable easier access to project related information; and Undertaking a review of project selection process to support stronger alignment of projects with APEC s strategic objectives and priorities. The Project Management Unit also assisted Budget and Management Committee by conducting trainthe-trainer programs on Project Quality. The PMU s Project Development Specialist conducted 12 training sessions on the margins of SOM meetings in Indonesia in In addition one full-day workshop was conducted in Viet Nam. Two project approval sessions have been completed (as of September 2013) with the final session for the year commencing in mid-september. A total of 76 Concept Notes were submitted for funding in Session 1, 2013 and 39 standard projects were approved for funding at a total cost of $4.6 million. The second project session for 2013 concluded in the second week of September. The Secretariat received a total of 68 Concept Notes for funding, out of which 35 were funded at a total value of $4.02million. 4

6 Communications, Outreach and Media Activities The Secretariat s Communication and Public Affairs Unit has continued to provide communications, publications and news services to raise awareness of APEC among its stakeholders. The approach is based on the APEC Branding Strategy. We provide both wholesale services to assist member economies with their outreach, and retail services to support the APEC process. The table below provides a comparison summary between the deliverables in 2012 and what we have accomplished to date in 2013: News, Media and Op-Eds Fifty news releases have been issued between 1 January and 15 August We expect to produce an additional 25 news releases between September and December focusing on APEC Economic Leaders Week where most of the headlines are captured and post-aelm to ensure APEC s relevance; Op-eds produced this year have brought wider coverage, including a joint op-ed with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy published in the Wall Street Journal/Asia on trade facilitation following the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting; More media interviews were held this year and have focused on delivering news and information about APEC s work. A list of interviews given by the Executive Director is attached as Annex B; and To facilitate greater coverage of APEC meetings and initiatives by broadcast media, we developed broadcast-quality video content for distribution via the APEC Online Media Center. Emphasis is now on strengthening the production processes and boosting output efficiency. Expanding Outreach to the Private Sector, Policymakers and the APEC host Executive Director s outreach activities included delivering 16 speeches, presentations and briefings between 1 January and 15 August 2013 and is attached as Annex B; 5

7 The third APEC Photo Contest engaged stakeholders and sought interpretations for the 2013 APEC Indonesia priorities. Entries were close to double the previous year; We published the new SCE Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH) brochure; We updated the online version of the APEC Communications Toolkit; and We covered the APEC Study Centre Consortium Conference 2013; the APEC Capacity Building Workshop on Search and Rescue at Sea; and the APEC Seminar on Strengthening Public- Private Partnership to Reduce Food Losses in the Supply Chain. CPAU plans to cover the 46 th Energy Working Group meeting in November. Social Media and Mobile Applications Enhanced the APEC website by adding social media features and consolidating the APEC's social media presence. These changes have made it easier for stakeholders and public to 'follow APEC' and its developments; Although there is a 16% decrease in visitors and 7% drop in page views for the APEC website compared to the same period in 2012, there is a corresponding 123% increase in visitors and 127% increase in page views for the APEC mobile site; Developed APEC social media guidelines for fora; Launched the Apple iphone version of the APEC Glossary App; The number of installs for the APEC Glossary app continues to rise; LSIF has created a new web blog at on 27 June 2013; The APEC Secretariat continues to expand and engage its stakeholders on social media which is increasingly becoming a critical communications tool. We are considering innovative, new ways to engage users on social media, including through the development of a trade game mobile app; and The APEC Secretariat recently launched its LinkedIn page this year in March 2013 and plans to share information about project-related work through this channel. APEC Meeting Document Database Completed the migration of the MDDB to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, a more upto-date platform with features such as improved indexing which allow documents uploaded to become visible to end-users within a shorter timeframe. The new URL has been operational since 4 January Host Support A paper has been shared with incoming hosts on steps that can be taken by host economies to move towards paperless meetings. Research and Policy Support (Policy Support Unit) Following the APEC Ministers agreement to extend its mandate until 2020, the PSU continues to make strides in its work. Institutionally, a PSU Five-Year Strategic Plan ( ) providing a broad direction to the PSU s work for the next five years until the mid-term review in 2017 was prepared. The PSU Governance Arrangements was also updated to reflect the mandate extension until 2020 and mid-term review. In terms of monitoring and evaluation, the PSU surveyed SOM and concerned APEC committees and fora on the quality and usefulness of projects that were recently completed. On policy research and analysis, the PSU has taken on a variety of projects this year to support APEC s agenda. Among the key deliverables are: For SOM, a study contributing to the development of an APEC Framework on Connectivity, one of the three APEC priorities for

8 For EC, an interim assessment of APEC s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) initiative, a study on regulatory reform in green investments, and the organization of a policy discussion on state of the regional economy. For CTI, an interim assessment of the Supply Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plan, and case studies on the electrical and electronics industry supply chain operations. For SFOM, studies on trade finance in APEC including a survey, and on the potential economic benefits and costs from implementing the Asia Region Funds Passport (ARFP). Two biannual reports on: APEC Economic Trends Analysis, and on key Trends and Developments Relating to Trade and Investment Measures and their Impact on the APEC Region, offering succinct and timely analysis on recent economic performance of the APEC region. Policy Briefs and Issues Papers addressing a variety of topics such as: SMEs participation in global production chains; expansion of the Information Technology Agreement; and regulatory reform in energy efficiency and renewable energy. This year saw the PSU continuing its mutual collaboration with international organizations such as: the ASEAN Secretariat; Asian Development Bank (ADB); International Monetary Fund (IMF); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC); United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP); World Bank; World Economic Forum (WEF); and World Trade Organization (WTO). The PSU also informed key stakeholders of its work through e-newsletters, publications, news releases and press briefings; shared its research outcomes at both APEC and non-apec events including at APEC capacity-building events; and made its reports publicly available on its webpage. As part of outreach, the PSU optimized APEC s statistics portal StatsAPEC for mobile devices to make it more easily accessible. A new publication APEC in Charts was also introduced which provides a graphical overview of the APEC region s economic, trade, investment and policy-related performance. Finance Income for 2013 For the period ending 31 July 2013, the Secretariat received fixed contributions, for 2013, a total of S$4,234,513 and US$825,951 to the Administrative Account and Operational Account respectively from 17 Member Economies. It was about 73% of the total amount of fixed contributions required for the year. For the period ending 31 July 2013, the Secretariat received, for 2013, a contribution of A$1,500,000 (equivalent to US$1,580,550) from Australia to the APEC Support Fund (General Fund) and JPY241,446,000 (equivalent to US$2,519,524) from Japan to the APEC Support Fund Energy Efficiency and Low-Carbon Measures Sub-fund. Japan and New Zealand also contributed US$901,782 and NZ$75,000 (equivalent to US$59,006) respectively to the Trade and Investment Liberalisation and Facilitation Account in July The Secretariat had also received income in the form of bank interests, administrative fees, sale of publications and refund from advances in project implementation, etc. For the period ending 31 July 2013, the income exclusive of Members fixed or voluntary contributions was Administrative Account: S$45,165; Operational Account: US$2,302; Trade and Investment Liberalisation and Facilitation Account: US$5,417; and APEC Support Fund Account: US$60,158. Expenditure for 2013 For the period ending 31 July 2013, the Secretariat incurred S$2,286,147 on the Administrative Account. It was about 41 per cent of the approved budget for 2013 (S$5,586,400). The biggest expenditure was on staff salaries at S$1,454,557 or 64% of the total expenditure in the period. As at May 2013, the Secretariat estimated that there would likely be savings of about S$800,000 in the 7

9 Administrative Account by the end of Most of the savings will come from travel (about S$550,000). The savings will be returned to the central fund on closing of the 2013 Financial Year. For the period ending 31 July 2013, the disbursements, including bank charges, in the Operational Account, Trade and Investment Liberalisation and Facilitation Account and the APEC Support Fund Account were US$525,118, US$543,562 and US$2,748,645 respectively. Financial Realignment In 2013, the APEC Secretariat has supported the Budget and Management Committee (BMC) in embarking on a financial realignment exercise to promote transparency in APEC financial management, improve/clarify the governance of the APEC Secretariat, support financial stability of the APEC financial system, and to promote predictability and sustainability of project funding. Measures approved by Senior Officials include: updating financial reporting tools, reviewing the authority of the Executive Director in financial/human resource management and administration of the APEC Secretariat, the use of part of the retained earnings in the Administrative Account to support projects, setting an aspirational target for the funding level in the Trade and Investment Liberalisation and Facilitation Account and the APEC Support Fund Account with a planning horizon of three years, together with a cap on the value of projects approved per session or per year, starting from Future Project Funding Taking into account APEC s existing pool of project funds and known pledges for new voluntary contributions, there is uncertainty in project funding availability a few years down the road. The Secretariat has recommended for the consideration of the Budget and Management Committee and Senior Officials a proposed framework for setting aspirational targets for voluntary contributions and capping the value of projects approved per year/session. The baseline level for the aspirational target is recommended to be set at US$10 million per year starting 2014 for every three years on a rolling basis (i.e., a total of about US$30 million in three years), to be indexed for inflation. This is pitched at the average value of projects approved per year from 2006 to The proposed framework will take three years to take full effect. If the level of funding availability is to reach US$10 million starting from 2014, additional voluntary contributions on top of the amount derived from a proposed formula for the aspirational target will be required in 2014 to 2016 (estimated in the range of US$0.93 million to US$4.7 million). The effect of applying the proposed aspirational target and cap on project funding is illustrated in the graph. 16,000,000 Actual/estimated value of approved projects in Actual/estimated value of approved projects (US$) 14,000,000 12,000,000 10,000,000 8,000,000 6,000,000 4,000,000 2,000, Year Legend Target for project funding (with additional voluntary contributions) Administrative Account Budget for 2014 Senior Officials and the BMC have endorsed the Secretariat s proposed budget for the Administrative Account in 2014 and the proposed 2014 level for Members contributions to the Administrative Account and the Operational Account. 8

10 External Auditor Senior Officials received the audited financial statements of the Secretariat for 2012 as audited by Ernst & Young LLP. Senior Officials also approved the appointment of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as the external auditor for the Secretariat for Financial Year 2013 and onward, subject to satisfactory performance. Information Technology Efforts to improve the Secretariat s IT resources have been continually explored while ensuring cost effectiveness and reliability. In particular, a focus on development projects to support better delivery of services to customers has been undertaken. Highlights of IT Unit s progress in 2013: The APEC Project Database (PDB) upgrade was completed in the third quarter of The upgraded PDB will be a useful repository of APEC project information including much improved search and data analysis functionalities; Migration to Cloud Computing was completed in the first quarter of Cost reduction and increased reliability is expected with the cloud service (exchange online from MS Office 365); The notebook replacement cycle was shortened from 4 to 3 years in order to prevent serious disruptions and to maintain secure up-to date functionality. The amendment to 3 years is warranted in line with the industry-standard of three years maximum warranty for most laptops; Following a staff survey to gauge a demand for peripheral devices to improve work processes, procurement for wireless mouse and keyboards was undertaken for staff; Completion of the Intranet project by the fourth quarter of 2013 looks to maximize work efficiency and seamless job succession. Main features of the Intranet are integration of existing portals such as the E-leave Portal and Operational Manual; and additional functionalities such as automatic approval and collaboration tools; The Secretariat is exploring the feasibility of a remote participation system at meetings that would enable the Secretariat and hosts to save on costs, including travel; implement green initiatives ; minimize travel-related downtimes; and scale expertise across the globe. The operational manual for the project will be completed by the fourth quarter of The main features of the remote participation system include remote access via online and offline mediums, pc and smart device connectivity; remote presentations (powerpoint and webinars); and recorded videos or broadcasts; To increase the reliability and performance of the IT network, the IT Unit will conduct a cost analysis of the server migration to the cloud in addition to the mail server by the fourth quarter of The migration project of web servers, AIMP servers and Intranet server to the cloud will be undertaken after securing budgetary justification; and In light of recent cyber incidents, we will review the Secretariat s IT security environment via a penetration testing project to explore specific vulnerabilities and rectifying them accordingly. A review of the current firewall policy will also be undertaken by comparing it with other international organizations policies. Administration Key outcomes in 2013 of the Administrative Unit were: On-going work underway within the Secretariat to improve performance and address HR issues through monitoring, development, training and internal communication. In particular, staff training has been institutionalized by identification of core and secondary training courses for staff. In addition to staff being sponsored for various external courses. In-house training was also arranged for staff in specific areas of group capacity building, namely contract management, project database as well as PDB dashboards and Excel pivot tables. Induction training has been comprehensively revamped for new staff joining the Secretariat, and informative seminars also arranged for PDs on subjects relevant to APEC. A revised staff appraisal system has been implemented and will be reviewed next year, if required; 9

11 The Secretariat has initiated the process of augmenting senior staff management under the Executive Director through the proposed engagement of a Chief of Staff, as agreed by SOM. Response to advertisements has been encouraging. The selection process will be executed in the coming months and the Chief of Staff hopefully in place by the beginning of 2014; Repair and repainting works to the Secretariat building to rectify water seepage from roof and external façade into the interior of building, as well as repainting of the building itself, commenced in August 2013 and will be completed by the end of the year. The total cost of repair works totaling S$300,000 will be borne by the Singapore Government; and The Secretariat continues to meet the requirements of the ISO: 9001 Standard on Quality Management System, as confirmed by successful external audits held again this year. Technical Assistance and Training Facility (TATF) and the Effectiveness Grant APEC TATF (funded by US State Department and managed by USAID) has continued to work collaboratively with various offices within the APEC Secretariat to identify areas where support has been needed. Accordingly, TATF was able to pursue a multi-faceted program that addressed a broad spectrum of IT and administrative issues as follows: Provided strategic IT assistance in discrete areas, such as migrating the system to cloud computing which was completed in early April 2013 as well as supporting efforts to develop an APEC Secretariat Intranet Portal, which will be completed by December 2013; Supporting the APEC Finance Unit with a review and update of its financial and accounting procedures to align them with international best practices; Continued to support the APEC Secretariat with the organization of a two-day off-site staff retreat exercise to look back on the Secretariat s achievements since establishment and an effort to identify some concepts that could guide a new strategic plan over the next three years; Continued to work under the direction of the SCE Chair to provide guidance to help APEC fora develop medium term strategic plans that ensure their priorities are aligned with APEC s broader objectives; Collaborated with the PMU to implement a two-phase activity on monitoring and evaluation. Phase 1 focused on developing a methodology and phase 2 piloted this on five APEC fora. Recommendations were endorsed by the BMC at SOM 3 in Medan; and Will support the review of performance appraisal forms for APEC support staff members and provide training to staff on conducting performance evaluations. The Effectiveness Grant (resourced by the Australian Government), funds the Project Development Specialist s position within the PMU. This position which was established in 2010 will continue for another three years. The position was established as a result of a BMC decision to devolve responsibility to the Secretariat to assess the quality of projects as part of the project selection process. In addition, funds from the Effectiveness Grant supported a range of short term consultancies to progress key BMC related project reforms and promote internal capacity building. Most recently a two day contract training program was undertaken to train staff in the basics of contract management. Further trainings are planned for Secretariat staff in the area of project monitoring and evaluation towards the end of Outlook for 2014 The Secretariat s new Strategic Plan for will be submitted to SOM1 for approval. Highlights of the Secretariat s Operational Plan for 2014, subject to fine-tuning, are likely to be: Appoint a Chief of Staff to assist, appraise, mentor, and help develop Program Directors, including coordinating their work loads and introducing best management techniques, as well as assisting in coordinating the cross-cutting aspects of the APEC working groups; Continue with capacity-building programs for staff; 10

12 To develop, optimize and expand APEC s communication tools based on an assessment and evaluation of stakeholder engagement tools and APEC communication outputs,; To build a communications network to enhance stakeholder engagement in host economies China, the Philippines and Peru as well as more broadly throughout APEC; To continue to implement the BMC-approved initiatives under the financial realignment exercise; Undertake a review of the Secretariat s IT security systems and implement safeguards as required; Explore ways to utilize remote participation system for APEC meetings to maximize costefficiencies; Conduct a mid-term review of the pilot phase of Multi-Year Projects (MYPs) in early 2014; Continue to extend capacity-building programs to members through train-the-trainer programs on Project Quality; Update APEC Meeting and Process Guidelines for approval by SOM; Implement the BMC approved Project Evaluation system for APEC projects; Assist development of APEC Capacity-Building Guidelines for SCE; and Assist the alignment of CTI sub-fora for CTI. 11

13 ANNEX A APEC SECRETARIAT PARTICIPATION OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (ED) AND PROGRAM DIRECTORS IN MEETINGS Date Participation and Title of Meeting or Event January 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at the 2013 APEC Seminar, Chinese Taipei (funded by host) January 2013 Participation of the ED and the responsible Director, Program at the 1 st ABAC Meeting, Manila, Philippines February 2013 Participation of the ED and the responsible Director, Program at the 1 st Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting 22 March 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at an APEC Project Funding Workshop, Bangkok, Thailand (funded by host) 3-4 April 2013 Participation by the ED and the responsible Director, Program at the 2 nd ABAC Meeting, Singapore 16 April 2013 Participation and speech by the ED on the State of Connectivity in the Region at the APEC Symposium on Connectivity in the Asia-Pacific, Surabaya, Indonesia April 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at the APEC Infrastructure workshop, Makassar, Indonesia May 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at the APEC Conference on Low Carbon Town and Physical Energy Storage 2013 (ACLE 2013), Changsha, China (funded by host) 30 May 2013 Project Training provided at APEC Workshop: Applying for APEC Funds and Preparing Quality Concept Notes and Proposals, Hanoi, Viet Nam 6-7 June 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at the APEC Research Center for Typhoon and Society 2013 workshop, Chinese Taipei (funded by host) 8-11 July 2013 Participation by the responsible Director, Program at the 3 rd ABAC meeting, Kyoto, Japan July 2013 Participation by the Director, Communications at the APEC Capacity Building Workshop on Search and Rescue At Sea, Nha Trang, Viet Nam July 2013 Participation by the ED and responsible Director, Program at the APEC Study Centers Consortium, Jakarta, Indonesia 3-4 August 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at the Symposium: Promoting Human Security in APEC: Development of e-health Systems as a Tool for Management in the Health Area of APEC Economies, Siberia, Russia (sponsored by host) 5-8 August 2013 Participation and presentation by the Director, Program at the APEC Seminar on Strengthening Public-Private Partnership to Reduce Food Losses in the Supply Chain, Chinese Taipei (funded by host) August 2013 Participation by the ED and Director, Program at the APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry, Cusco, Peru August 2013 Participation by the responsible Director, Program at the 7 th APEC Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum, Kuta, Bali, Indonesia 5 September 2013 Participation by the ED and Director, Program at the 8 th Transportation Ministerial Meeting, Tokyo, Japan 7 September 2013 Participation by the ED and Director, Program at the 1 st Joint Small and 12

14 10-11 September 2013 Medium Enterprises and Women s Ministerial Meeting, Bali, Indonesia Participation by the Director, Program at the APEC Workshop on Food Security 2013, Tokyo, Japan 20 September 2013 Participation by the ED and Director, Program at the Finance Ministerial Meeting, Bali, Indonesia 30 September 2 October 30 September 2 October Participation by the Director, Program at the APEC Conference on Clean Renewable and Sustainable Use of Energy, Bali, Indonesia Participation by the Director, Program at the International Workshop on Fisheries and Their Contribution to Sustainable Development in APEC Economies, Jakarta, Indonesia 1-4 October 2013 Participation by the responsible Director, Program at the 4 th ABAC meeting, Bali, Indonesia 1 October 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at the APEC High Level Dialogue on Travel Facilitation, Bali, Indonesia 13

15 APEC SECRETARIAT ANNEX B OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, SPEECHES AND ARTICLES Date Participation and Title of Meeting or Event 19 February 2013 Participation of the ED in the Singapore-WTO Regional Workshop on Technical Barriers to Trade for Asia and the Pacific, Singapore February 2013 Participation by the ED as a panelist in the PECC-SINCPEC-INCPEC Conference 2013 on Asia-Pacific Economic Integration and Connectivity, Singapore 15 March 2013 Participation by the Director, Program at the 3 rd FEALAC Cyber Secretariat Workshop, Seoul, Korea (funded by host) March 2013 Participation by the ED as a keynote panel speaker at the Credit Suisse 16 th Asian Investment Conference, Hong Kong, China 3 April 2013 Keynote speech given by ED to the Institute of Southeast-Asian Studies (ISEAS) Symposium on Building APEC and ASEAN Connectivity April 2013 Participation by the ED as a panelist speaker at the Asia-Pacific Financial Market Development Symposium, Sydney, Australia 30 April 2013 Joint op-ed article by the ED and WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy titled APEC shows the way on trade 6 June 2013 Participation by the ED as a panelist at the SMU-USC Students Public Forum, Singapore June 2013 Speech and presentation by the ED to the 2013 WTO-TFCTN Parliamentarian Workshop on International Trade, Singapore 12 July 2013 Presentation by the ED at the OMFIF-LKY Asia's Role in the Global Economy Forum, Singapore July 2013 Participation by the ED at Model APEC Youth Summit and outreach visits, Chinese Taipei 23 July 2013 Public Lecture by the ED on the Three Friends of Winter : How Economic Policy has Addressed the Major Crises of our Time, Singapore Management University August 2013 Outreach Visit to Chile ABAC, Diplomat Academy and line ministries, Santiago, Chile 22 August 2013 Speech given by ED APEC in a Very Different Asia-Pacific, Wellington, New Zealand 5 September 2013 Welcoming Remarks given by the ED at the Transportation Ministerial Meeting, Tokyo, Japan 10 September 2013 Participation by the ED as a panel speaker at the RSIS Workshop on Governance of East Asian Regional Economic Architectures, Singapore 20 September 2013 Speech given by the ED on Trade Finance at the Finance Ministerial Meeting, Bali, Indonesia MEDIA INTERVIEWS GIVEN BY ED, PSU AND APEC FORA CHAIRS Date February 2013 Participation and Title of Meeting or Event Media interview given by ED to CNBC 14

16 21 March 2013 Media interview given by ED to Credit Suisse TV, Hong Kong, China 21 March 2013 Media interview given by ED to David Pilling, Financial Times 5 April 2013 Media interview given by ED to Martin Abbugao, Agence France-Press (AFP), Singapore April 2013 Media interview given by ED to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Surabaya 3 April 2013 Media interview given by ED to Bloomberg, Singapore April 2013 April 2013 April 2013 April 2013 Media interview given by ED to Channel News Asia, Surabaya Media interview given by ED to The Jakarta Post, Surabaya Media interview given by ED to Voice of Indonesia Media interview given by ED to China Central Television (CCTV), Surabaya 17 June 2013 Media interview given by ED to China Central Television (CCTV), Singapore July 2013 July 2013 August 2013 August 2013 August 2013 August 2013 August 2013 August 2013 Media interview given by ED to Gatra, Medan, Indonesia Media interview given by ED to Kompas, Medan, Indonesia Media interview given by ED to Andina News Agency, Lima, Peru Media interview given by ED to the Economist, Lima Peru Media interview given by ED to El Commercio, Lima, Peru Media interview given by ED to El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile Media interview given by ED to DFTV, Santiago, Chile Media interview given by ED to New Zealand Herald 5 September 2013 Media Interview with Asahi Shimbun, Japan 9 September 2013 Media Interview by Xinhua News Agency with ED, Singapore 13 September 2013 Media interview given by ED to Bloomberg, Singapore 16 September 2013 Media interview given by ED to Channel News Asia s Business Central program, Singapore 17 September 2013 Telephone interview given by ED to Associated Press, Singapore 18 September 2013 Media interview given by ED to the Wall Street Journal, Bali 20 September 2013 Media interview given by ED to BBC Worldwide, Singapore in Bali VISITS TO SECRETARIAT Date Participation and Title of Meeting or Event 5 March 2013 Visit by students from Mexico IADE MBA, Mexico. 14 March 2013 Visit by Roland Yap, General Electric Singapore 15 March 2013 Visit by H.E. Armando Raúl Patiño Alvístur, Embassy of Peru, Singapore 9 April 2013 Visit by student delegation form the London School of Economics 15 April 2013 Visit by a delegation from the Korea Environment Institute, Korea 23 April 2013 Visit by Dr. Fernando Bertoli and Ms. Melissa Cook of Chemonics International, USA 15 May 2013 MBA student delegation visit from Arcadia University, Pennsylvania, USA 15

17 4 June 2013 Visit by student delegation from Singapore Management University (SMU)- USC, Singapore 5 June 2013 Visit by Weiwei Han, 2014 MBA Candidate, University of Southern California - The Marshall Business School - Foreign Direct Investment research project, USA 14 June 2013 Visit and talk by Mr Keith Rockwell, WTO s Director of Information and External Relations Division, Geneva 24 June 2013 Visit by Ms Susan Brown, Director, Global and Regional Policy Programme, WWF International, Geneva 24 June 2013 Visit by Mr Anselmo Reyes, Representative, Hague Conference Asia-Pacific Regional Office, Hong Kong, China 11 July 2013 Visit by Ambassador Suh Chung Ha, Korean Ambassador to Singapore 27 July 2013 Visit by Mr Noriyuki Suzuki, Secretary-General, ITUC - Asia Pacific and Ms Catherine Koa, APLN, Singapore 30 July 2013 Visit by H.E. Rogelio Granguillhome, Ambassador of Mexico, Singapore 27 August 2013 Visit by student delegation from Youngnak u-health High School, Korea 29 August 2013 Visit by David Dodwell, ABAC representative, Hong Kong, China 3 September 2013 Visit by Mr Shirakawa, former Governor, Bank of Japan 12 September 2013 Visit by Mr Dominic Martin, Director of the UK s G8 Presidency 16