The APEC Peru 2024 Forum is one of the most important events of the year, bringing together the 21 member economies of this forum. Much has been said at the level of economic sectors, but what role does academia play in this significant initiative?
To answer this question, we spoke with José Carlos Feliciano, Deputy Director of the Center for China and Asia-Pacific Studies at Universidad del Pacífico, who explained that academia plays an important role in the discussion, study, and generation of policies and initiatives within the 21 APEC economies.
He highlighted the role of the APEC Study Centers Consortium, which brings together various academic centers and think tanks—most of them based in universities across the 21 economies—that carry out studies and provide consultancy services on APEC’s working themes, including, for example, trade, technical cooperation, food security, among others.
Within the framework of APEC Peru 2024, it is also worth underscoring the promotion of alliances and initiatives among the three key actors (business, government, and academia). For instance, in the area of digital skills training, both private companies and the state have offered university students opportunities to receive training in courses and topics related to innovation, emphasizing the importance of acquiring these tools for the transition to the digital and global economy, issues of great importance in the Asia-Pacific.
Feliciano further explained that the diversity of APEC economies allows for different approaches and solutions to common issues, enabling learning from the examples and applications of Asia-Pacific economies. Moreover, APEC’s priorities, long-term visions, working groups, and other units of the APEC Secretariat provide a framework of topics through which universities and think tanks can conduct research both locally and internationally.
“What is promoted in the spaces generated by APEC, such as conferences, workshops, and official meetings, is mutual learning and the sharing of best practices, in addition to seeking, by consensus, guidelines for international cooperation.” — José Carlos Feliciano Nishikawa
Finally, the expert noted that universities and institutions could proactively encourage their researchers and professors to study issues of trade and innovation and to propose policies that benefit APEC economies. Likewise, given that cooperation and consensus are key pillars of the forum, collaborative research with other educational institutions across the 21 economies could be a valuable strategy. Additionally, the results of such research could be disseminated at official Forum meetings, thereby contributing to better decision-making and policy design for member economies.
