APEC 2015

 

What will the Philippines gain for hosting the APEC 2015? As leaders from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies gather in Manila for the second time after 19 years they will visit an economy that is about 3 times larger and to be hosted by a leader now seeking to spread the region’s prosperity to microentrepreneurs and poor farmers. The Philippines will be the world's biggest stage for one week. APEC summit is a good networking event. Under this year's APEC theme "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World", the Philippines, along with 20 other member economies, has been pushing for inclusive growth and empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises among others. In the weeks leading up to the high-profile economic leaders' meeting on November 18 to 19, the Philippines has initiated to make the region bike-friendly, scale up disaster preparedness, and help micro, small and medium enterprises secure links to global value chain. On the other hand, The cost of the APEC Summit is huge, and Filipino people will bear the brunt of it. The Philippine government has allotted 10 billion pesos for the summit. Importantly, though, many workers in Manila who get paid by the day will be hard hit by two days of national holidays forcing them not to work, especially those who live hand to mouth, as is the case for many daily-wage workers who don’t get paid on holidays. In addition, poor and homeless people are being detained in the name of “cleaning up” Manila for APEC. As the Philippines aims to put its best foot forward and show off its developmental gains to visiting APEC leaders, Manila’s poor and homeless people have been rounded up and taken out of sight and out of mind ahead of the summit.

 

Hosting this year's APEC Summit has advantages and disadvantages for the Philippines and its people. I just do hope that there will be a huge change in our economy after all the sacrifices the Filipinos have done to cooperate in this remarkable event.