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Annex 1 - Strengthened and Enhanced APEC Agenda for Structural Reform (SEAASR) 2026 – 2030

Strengthened and Enhanced APEC Agenda for Structural Reform (SEAASR) 2026 – 2030

Background

The SEAASR builds upon the Economic Committee’s (EC) former structural reform instruments of the Leaders’ Agenda to Implement Structural Reform (LAISR) 2004, the APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform (ANSSR) for 2010-2015 and the Renewed APEC Agenda for Structural Reform (RAASR) for 2015-2020. In particular, the SEAASR draws on the progress and insights gained through implementing the pillars under the Enhanced APEC Agenda for Structural Reform (EAASR) but aims to adopt a more integrated and strengthened approach to take them to the next level. The SEAASR also notes efforts made by economies to undertake structural reform to reduce informality, such as through the Lima Roadmap to Promote the Transition to the Formal and Global Economies 2025-2040.

In an evolving economic landscape, APEC economies are committed to undertaking domestic structural reform to cultivate economic growth.

This strengthened structural reform agenda provides a significant opportunity to foster stronger international regulatory cooperation, promote sustainable economic growth, enable market connectivity, competitiveness, and prosperity, and foster an enabling business environment for all. It also aims to address or remove structural barriers that limit full, and meaningful participation for all in the economy and stimulate innovation and enhance resilience against economic shocks, demographic changes and other emerging global challenges.

The SEAASR and its pillars outline a direction for structural reforms focusing on growth and greater well-being, putting in place an enabling business environment and infrastructure that is adaptable and resilient to future changes and challenges, in line with APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 including through the implementation of the Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA).

Pillars of the SEAASR

The SEAASR encourages economies to pursue robust, comprehensive, and coordinated structural reforms to stimulate economic growth for all, and overcome current and emerging challenges. This includes encouraging innovation and digital transformation, enhancing skills development, removing structural barriers and undue burdens on investors and businesses, and empowering all groups in society for broader economic participation to achieve their economic potential. These reforms are essential to unlock potential, improve productivity and accelerate growth, ensuring that the Asia-Pacific continues to thrive as the world’s most dynamic and interconnected regional economy. 

To achieve the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, the SEAASR seeks to address structural barriers and encourage domestic structural reforms that align with the following pillars:

  1. Enabling Fair, Market-Oriented Competition;
  2. Enabling Environment for Doing Business;
  3. Promoting Innovation and Digitalisation; and
  4. Empowering All to Achieve Their Economic Potential for Sustainable Economic Growth.

These pillars are interrelated and therefore some reforms will apply to multiple pillars.

Approaches

The SEAASR encourages economies to continue to adopt and strengthen the three approaches to promote structural reform referred to in the 2018 “Structural Reforms for Inclusive Growth: Three Approaches”1 (which was also adopted by EAASR).

Actions

The SEAASR invites economies to submit individual action plans (IAPs) as soon as possible, and no later than mid 2026 that outlines their structural reform initiatives through 2030. Economies are also encouraged to nominate reform actions under all pillars across all sectors, to ensure IAPs are suitably ambitious and comprehensive, together with quantitative and qualitative indicators to enable future monitoring and review. IAPs reflect domestic priorities of each economy and need not be endorsed by APEC fora or other economies.

To further advance the structural reform agenda, the Economic Committee (EC) will develop and enact a SEAASR Implementation Plan with timelines that identifies actions, along with appropriate indicators that contribute to implementation of the SEAASR. The following activities are recommended:  

  • Incorporate the findings and recommendations of reports on the EAASR in the SEAASR Implementation Plan, including through strengthening monitoring and evaluation, and better incorporating AEPR recommendations into the Plan using mechanisms to support follow-up activities;
  • Support economies through capacity building initiatives – to the extent practicable – to develop SEAASR IAPs, and design and implement structural reform policies/projects that may cover both services and non-services sectors;
  • Encourage APEC-funded and self-funded projects that contribute to SEAASR activities and targets including through the relevant sub-fund;
  • Increase engagement with the private sector and stakeholders including through consultation with the APEC Business Advisory Council to ensure that the implementation of the SEAASR is relevant, responsive, and actionable;
  • Encourage cross-fora collaboration with other APEC fora and sub-fora, including the Finance Ministers’ Process, the Committee on Trade and Investment and the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation.
Monitoring and reporting

The EC will work with the APEC Policy Support Unit to update the set of relevant indicators to monitor and report on APEC-wide progress on structural reform under the SEAASR.

The EC will report to Senior Officials on the progress of implementing the SEAASR which will include:

  • A mid-term review of the SEAASR in 2028, including through the option to host a high-level structural reform officials’ meeting to discuss mid-term progress, to share experiences and lessons learnt, and further guide the economies’ reform actions; and
  • A final review of the SEAASR and the next Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting in 2030.