CECHAP participates in the APEC 2024 Study Center Consortium Conference
On August 22 and 23, the Center for China and Asia-Pacific Studies (CECHAP) at Universidad del Pacífico (UP) participated in the APEC 2024 Study Center Consortium Conference organized this year in Peru. This event brought together academic institutions from the 21 member economies of APEC.
The first panel of the conference titled “Trade and investment for inclusive and interconnected growth”, was moderated by CECHAP Director, Dr. Cynthia Sanborn, and included as panelists Dr. Nifta Lau (CECHAP) and Dr. Chenxin Jin from Nankai University (China), with the presentations “The USMCA, trade triangulation with China and Mexico’s industrial upgrading”, and “The Assessment and Solutions for APEC digital inclusion”, respectively.
On the same day, the Center’s Deputy Director, José Carlos Feliciano, moderated the panel “Innovation and digitalization to promote transition to the formal and global economy (a)”. His panel included speakers from the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies and Jeonbuk National University (Korea).
The main conclusions in both panels focused on the fact that the inclusion of new digital models creates development in a country, both for men and women (the latter group shows a low access to connectivity, compared to men), government investment is necessary to balance the percentages and is also a way towards the formalization of informal markets.
On day 2 of the conference, UP professors and researchers Dr. Rosa Patricia Larios, Dr. María Ángela Prialé and Dr. Alejandro Flores participated in the second part of the panel “Innovation and digitalization to promote transition to the formal and global economy (b)”, with colleagues from Universidad Autónoma de México and Universidad de Lima.
In the afternoon, CECHAP affiliated researcher Oksana Skalnaya participated in the panel “Sustainable growth for resilient development (a)” and shared with colleagues from the Universidad Autónoma de México and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, on the topic of business culture in China.
Finally, researcher Antonio Pagán participated in the last panel of the conference with his presentation “The Latin American and the Peruvian side of the Asia-Pacific: the EU’s new agenda and the China factor”. He was accompanied on the panel by colleagues from The Catholic University of Korea and the Universidad Autónoma de México.
The conclusions of the second day were that there is a differentiation between formal and informal markets among countries in the same region, and that digital transformation is necessary for business to become increasingly formal and digitized, but for this to happen, it is also necessary competencies in both technical and soft skills.
It was also concluded that, in Chinese society, online communications and offline meetings have formed a hybrid form of interaction, which in general helps to preserve traditional communication practices.
Lastly, as for the relationship between China and Latin America, it is evident that it has intensified significantly, surpassing the presence of the European Union (EU) in some areas. However, the EU has a difficult road ahead, due to the strength of the Chinese presence, and the limits and challenges of its own response.
