APEC Members Urged to Meet Challenges of New EconomyAPEC members have been urged to take on the challenges of knowledge-based economies (KBEs)."APEC must meet the emerging challenges posed by the new economy to build the future of APEC economies," APEC Economic Committee Chair Mitsuru Taniuchi said Saturday at a press briefing on his committee's report "Towards Knowledge-based Economies in APEC" to be submitted to the APEC ministerial meeting which begins here on Sunday. APEC should refocus its cooperation for capacity building to more forward on the new economy and in realizing the full potential of new technologies, of key importance is education and life-long learning, Taniuchi said. There is much concern over the digital divide among APEC member economies, Taniuchi said. APEC economies can learn the policies that have been adopted to build the infrastructure of a knowledge-based economy from other APEC members both at the same stage of development and at different stage of development, he added. The APEC official underscored the significance of entrepreneurship, saying in times of strong technological change, there is much scope for entrepreneurial individuals and small firms to steal a march on larger firms. The report acknowledges that knowledge is a key driver of future economic growth and knowledge about wide-ranging areas has become increasingly critical for more traditional industries. The report assesses how far APEC economies have moved towards becoming KBEs, suggests possible policies appropriate to move an economy further towards becoming a full KBE and recommends specific actions for APEC cooperation to assist member economies to develop towards KBEs. APEC leaders at their meeting scheduled for November 15-16 here are expected to discuss an action agenda for the new economy, renewing a centripetal force for APEC cooperation. |
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